Helen Turkiewicz |
Please join me for an evening in support of ˜Remember Me, a documentary film and educational resource project that I am developing with producer Rod Freedman, under the auspices of the Kresy-Siberia Foundation (a registered tax-deductible organisation.) The film is intended for international distribution to television and film festivals and will have a Study Guide for schools.
Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, 16-20 Goodhope St, Paddington on Tuesday, 12th October 5.45-8pm.
RSVP by 5 October info@changefocus.com.au
The story will focus on my mother, Helen, who as an orphaned teenager during World War Two, was one of 1.7 million Poles to be deported to Siberia by Stalin, 'miraculously' released after negotiations with the Allies and then betrayed by the very Allies who had secured their release.
Oxford historian Professor Norman Davies, whom I have interviewed, claims that the Allies (principally the UK and US) subsequently 'covered up essential facts of history' and that this extraordinary historical event was 'conveniently forgotten' after the War so that the morally compromised relationship that the Allies had with Stalin during the War would not come under scrutiny.
As a portrait of an inspiring survivor, "Remember Me" will be a personal, compelling story. But the fact that my mother also played an unwitting role in this bigger geo-political story will give the film an added dimension.
This amazing true story is hardly known in the West. Rod and I are hoping to bring this missing chapter of history to world attention.
"Remember Me", a young Polish woman's dramatic journey from a Siberian gulag to safety in Australia. Introduced by David Stratton, estemed film critic and Gosia Dobrowolska, Polsih/Australian actor. Sphia and Rod will show film excerpts and a trailer, followed by refreshments.
Here is some background information on Rod and myself: I have worked as a film director for more than thirty years. My feature film ˜Silver City, a story about the experiences of the first postwar European migrants to arrive in Australia, had a wide international release in the 1980s. Since then I have worked mostly on television drama series, and have also, until recently, spent six years as a Directing Lecturer at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.
Rod Freedman, of Change Focus Media, is an independent producer/director whose documentaries have won many Australian and international awards and screened in dozens of international film festivals.
If you'd like to know more about 'Remember Me' please call or email me at the contacts above.
And if you're interested in viewing the trailer on the web, click here
Please feel free to pass this invitation on to others who you think might be interested in helping to get this film made.
Rod and I look forward to seeing you at the event.
Sophia Turkiewicz
Writer/Director
Helen Turkiewicz after the war |
Helen Turkiewicz with her daughter Sophia |
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