This past evening I was lucky enough to attend A Washington,
DC, Next Generation event at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum as a guest of
one of the senior fellows at work. The event was the private screening of La
Rafle (The Roundup), which is a French film that recounts the story of the Vel
d’Hiv Roundup that took place during WWII.
The film at times was too difficult to watch, each moment was
filled with sorrow and raw emotion. After viewing the film the audience was
instructed to sit in silence through the credits. After the movie the Rose
Bosch (the director), Mélanie Laurent (the lead female actress), and Scott Simon
(the producer) were to speaking and answering questions from the audience about
their experiences making and researching the film. As we sat in silence the
sounds of gentle sobs and the sniffles of strangers echoed in the large
theater. I sat in the silence, filled with sadness, but I was moved by the
emotions of all the people around me.
The lecture that followed gave me a new appreciation for the
film. The director, Rose Bosch, spent three years prior to the film researching
La Rafle. She stated that everything we
had witnessed in the film, down to the smallest detail was true. She gathered
stories from the men and women of this tragic event and intertwined the stories
to create a seamless film that told the truth about the tragedies that occurred
during WWII. Listening to the director, Mélanie, and the producer speak
of their own connections to the event and what inspired them to participate in
the production of the film inspired me.
Ceara C
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