WE REMEMBER:
SONGS OF SURVIVORS
Musicians
and Filmmakers Available for Interviews
Witness
the healing powers of Music and Friendship as Holocaust survivors share their stories
with songwriters on 450 PBS Stations. The hour-long documentary will broadcast
between April 26-May 24, and then in the fall.
WE
REMEMBER: SONGS OF SURVIVORS will premiere the week of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust
Remembrance Day, on Tuesday, April 26, at 8:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org and the
PBS Video app.
WE
REMEMBER: SONGS OF SURVIVORS follows four working singer-songwriters (Michael
Veitch, Elizabeth Clark, Kelleigh McKenzie, Jude Roberts) hired by the
community arts organization SageArts in New York’s Hudson Valley. Through a
program offered by Jewish Family Service of Orange County, they visit local
Holocaust survivors to create original songs based on their conversations. The
film documents the relationships that develop and the songwriting process over
many months, culminating in an emotional live concert where the survivors and
songwriters are celebrated by friends, family and the community.
“At a time
when the world is faced with the horrors of war and hatred, we wanted to tell
this hopeful story of perseverance and love,” said Ilene Cutler, co-producer of
WE REMEMBER: SONGS OF SURVIVORS.
In-depth
interviews with the survivors — Rita, Tibor, Tommy and Freide — and access to
rare personal archives lead to revealing stories, many of which have been
deeply buried in their memories for decades. At the same time, the songwriters
— Michael, Jude, Kelleigh and Elizabeth — create video diaries to document
their own thoughts and feelings about the experience of telling a Holocaust
survivor’s story through song. Michael
reflects, "Working with Rita was a life changing experience for me and I
know every artist in this project received a similar gift songwriting with their
Holocaust survivor."
“Many
documentaries exist about the Holocaust. However, few have taken such a unique
approach to telling these horrific stories. We wanted to shed light on the
devastating experiences of Holocaust survivors while celebrating the
possibilities of healing through the power of music,” said Tim Miller,
co-producer of WE REMEMBER: SONGS OF SURVIVORS. “Little did we know this film,
with its powerful message, would change the lives of both the survivors and
songwriters.”
“PBS is
honored to shed light on this moving and powerful project, which illuminates
the ways in which music can uniquely memorialize these stories of resiliency,”
said Zara Frankel, Director of Programming and Development at PBS.
Produced
by Tim Miller and Ilene Cutler, WE REMEMBER: SONGS OF SURVIVORS was written and
edited by Timothy Guetterman.
WE
REMEMBER: SONGS OF SURVIVORS will be available for streaming concurrent with
broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS
Video App, available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire
TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. PBS station members can view many
series, documentaries and specials via PBS Passport.
Visit www.weremembersongsofsurvivors.com
