Past Talks & More

Eric Bednarski

Warsaw: A City Divided (2019)

Screening and Q&A

Virtual

In 1941, soon after the Nazis created Warsaw’s Jewish Ghetto, a Polish amateur 8mm camera enthusiast shot a remarkable 10-minute film from both sides of the ghetto walls. This never-before-seen footage is woven into the feature-length documentary Warsaw: A City Divided, acting as a silent witness to the wartime division of the city and tragic murder of thousands of its inhabitants. In addition to this footage, the film includes interviews with ghetto survivors and witnesses who still call Warsaw their home, as well as commentary from architects, urban historians, and the Chief Rabbi of Poland, who examine the chilling Nazi vision for Warsaw.

Making use of little-known German documents, Warsaw: A City Divided sheds new light on the insidious Nazi process that culminated in the near total destruction of this once vibrantly multicultural city. At the same time, the film shows a thriving modern metropolis still coming to terms with its traumatic past. By interweaving this rich material, the film affirms the importance—and the difficulty—of remembering. Eric Bednarski, the film’s award-winning director, joins us for a virtual Q&A session and discussion after the screening. (71 mins., MP4)

Please note: this event was rescheduled from an earlier date.
Closed captioning available in the video.

More about the filmmaker

A documentary film director/writer born in Halifax, Canada, Eric Bednarski lives and works in Warsaw. His work with the National Film Board of Canada has garnered him a Gemini Award and a Writers Guild of Canada award nomination, and he was awarded a Decoration of Honor by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in 2015. Bednarski’s films have been broadcast across the world and have also screened at international festivals, the United Nations, the European Parliament, and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

Image: Eric Bednarski, photo: Jacek Pioro

Cosponsored by Ohio State’s Center for Slavic and East European Studies through its Polish Studies Initiative, Department of History, Melton Center for Jewish Studies, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, and the Wexner Center for the Arts, and also presented with support from the Jewish Community Relations Council of JewishColumbus and The Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

MADE POSSIBLE BY
American Electric Power Foundation
Greater Columbus Arts Council
L Brands Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Huntington Bank
Nationwide Foundation

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
Kaufman Development
Cardinal Health Foundation

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Past Talks & More

Eric Bednarski