Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 5, 2024

For more than a decade, filmmaker Julia Mintz meticulously crafted her award-winning documentary Four Winters to challenge existing myths surrounding Jewish survival during World War II, offering a new and differing portrayal of courage.

Now, she is bringing her film to St. Louis for the first time.

In honor of Womens History Month, the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum is hosting an exclusive screening of Four Winters as well as a post-viewing conversation with Mintz on March 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be ordered online.

Through gripping accounts and archival footage, Four Winters unveils the courageous acts of Jews who defied the odds, escaping to the forests of Eastern Europe, Ukraine and Belarus. There, they forged alliances and formed partisan brigades to fight back against the Nazis and their collaborators.

Speaking on her inspiration for making the film, Mintz reflected on her upbringing and the pervasive narratives surrounding Jewish survival during the war.

We were taught, lambs to the slaughter, and the inherited story of American liberators, she explained, highlighting what she describes as a passive portrayal of Jewish survival prevalent in public school education and Hollywood depictions. I felt like someone needed to be an advocate to say, you know, that wasnt always the case.

Telling a different narrative, one exploring the depths of human courage is what Four Winters became.

Through interviews with eight partisans five women and three men the film chronicles their journey from innocence to resilience as they navigate the harsh realities of war and defy unimaginable odds to survive.

The film follows two narratives, explained Mintz. One is the linear timeline, but this film is really about the soul, the souls journey and the personal journey of each partisan.

Mintz delves into the intricacies of everyday life for each of the partisans and how they grapple with the fierce anxiety of knowing each day could be their last.

The film does not shy away from that, she said, emphasizing the films unflinching portrayal of the ethical dilemmas faced by its subjects. We go right in there and explore how these decent people, who were raised not to steal, not to kill and not to lie, had to break their own beliefs to survive. We end up seeing extraordinary bravery, self-control, resiliency and loyalty. And so, the film in many ways sort of flips the lambs to the slaughter narrative, to another interpretation, which is much more accurate.

This film is told in an oral history style, through the voices of the eight former partisans sharing their accounts of wartime survival, accompanied by some remarkable archival images of the partisans in action.

In viewing Four Winters the filmgoer should know the film is not merely a passive viewing experience but rather a journey that demands full immersion. This film was crafted for the big screen and meant to be viewed as a communal experience.

So, on March 12, bring three friends or family members. Bring somebody younger and bring somebody older because its really an intergenerational and community experience to see this film, said Mintz. Afterwards youll be amazed at how different generations of viewers interpret what they saw.

Mintz also says the film is created on different levels. Theres the historical, the personal and the musical.

The weaving of sound and music is quite wonderful. Its inspired by historical rhythm, but its meaningful and the music sort of follows the narration as it weaves throughout the film, but its very, very subtle, said Mintz.

All told, we suggest you focus on the storytelling as it reveals Mintzs vision, that Holocaust stories, rightly or wrongly, routinely portray Jews as defenseless victims not as armed partisans capable of blowing up a train or stabbing Nazis to death with makeshift knives.

What: Exclusive showing of Four Winters followed by a conversation with Julia Mintz When: March 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. (90-minute film) More info: For more information or to purchase tickets, visit stlholocaustmuseum.org

Read more:

St. Louis premiere of 'Four Winters' unveils Jewish women's armed resistance during Holocaust - St. Louis Jewish Light

Category: Holocaust
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