The 2015 Chicago edition of the Polish Film Festival in America featured "Karski," a docudrama about the life of Jan Karski (24 June 1914 - 13 July 2000), a Polish Catholic who became a courier for the Polish Underground during World War II. In 1942 and 1943 he reported to the Polish government in exile in England and to the Western Allies-in particular the British and U.S. governments-on the desperate situation in German-occupied Poland, especially the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto and the truth about the extermination of Jews in the Nazi camps.
Director Magdalena Lazarkiewicz has wisely constructed the film to include two narrative levels. The movie is the story of two young filmmakers rushing to meet a deadline in the creation of a docudrama about Jan Karski. We see scenes of the actors being cast and then filmed in a recreated ghetto, a Nazi interrogation room, and at meeting with a Jewish leader in London, telling the story of Karski's life and heroism as set pieces. This smart approach avoids the pitfalls to which romanticizing Karski might have led and asks the audience to answer the key questions, "What would I have done?" and "What should I do now?" at a time when contemporary media coverage enables the world to know about the suffering and cruelty that runs as rampant in the world today as ever.
Read a fascinating interview with Director Magdalena Lazarkiewicz in Cinema Without Borders. Visit the Jan Karski Educational Foundation website for more information about how to make "Humanity's Hero" more widely known and recognized.
Director Magdalena Lazarkiewicz has wisely constructed the film to include two narrative levels. The movie is the story of two young filmmakers rushing to meet a deadline in the creation of a docudrama about Jan Karski. We see scenes of the actors being cast and then filmed in a recreated ghetto, a Nazi interrogation room, and at meeting with a Jewish leader in London, telling the story of Karski's life and heroism as set pieces. This smart approach avoids the pitfalls to which romanticizing Karski might have led and asks the audience to answer the key questions, "What would I have done?" and "What should I do now?" at a time when contemporary media coverage enables the world to know about the suffering and cruelty that runs as rampant in the world today as ever.
Read a fascinating interview with Director Magdalena Lazarkiewicz in Cinema Without Borders. Visit the Jan Karski Educational Foundation website for more information about how to make "Humanity's Hero" more widely known and recognized.
