• 4 באוגוסט 2008 : 13:00

The men who volunteered to crew the Exodus were a ragtag team of Jewish World War II veterans from several countries and mariners with a conscience from all over the world. Their recollections are the masts upon which Jean-Michel Vecchiet hangs the structure of his impeccably researched documentary about the ship Exodus ’47, which was both haven and prison to thousands of Holocaust survivors.

The journey of the Exodus was the boldest clandestine immigration event following World War II. In July 1947, 4,551 survivors boarded the ship in Sète, France, and left secretly for Palestine. Intercepted by the British navy, the passengers were transferred to three English boats, which after nine days of a difficult journey, returned to Port-de-Bouc in Provence. The desperate but determined passengers were confined for three weeks aboard these British boat “cages” (literally floating prisons), and were sustained by the generosity of the French townspeople who brought food to the passengers and loaded it on board in a human chain. The crew of the Exodus and the residents of this little port witnessed a test of strength between the English and the French governments—and the unwavering will of the survivors—at a moment in history when Israel was on the brink of creation. France’s role and the remarkable solidarity of her citizens were instrumental to the goal of reaching Palestine. Among the most moving images in the film is the contemporary footage of a meeting between former passengers and the French townspeople who came to their aid.

לפרטים נוספים: http://www.sfjff.org/site/pages/index.php

August 4 2008 1:00pm

CinéArts @ Palo Alto Square