22-01-2011, 06:33 AM
(This post was last modified: 22-01-2011, 11:04 AM by Peter Lemkin.)
Winton, now 101 years old attended the opening of the film in Prague on Jan 20, 2011. It will open in the theaters around the world in early February.
Some of "Winton's children" attended the premiere of MináÄ's film. (ÄŒTK)
Prague, Jan 20 (CTK) - Sir Nicholas Winton, 101, of Britain attended Thursday the premiere of Slovak director Matej Minac's documentary Nicky's Family on how he saved the lives of 669 Jewish children from then Czechoslovakia just before World War Two broke out.
The film was presented by Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra.
Former Czech president Vaclav Havel was also present at the premiere.
Winton told the audiences that the film was a strong experience for him too. He pointed out two words: ethics and compromise.
Czech Senate deputy chairman Premysl Sobotka proposed Winton for Nobel Peace Prize Thursday following the screening.
Sobotka handed the letter nominating Sir Winton for the prize to Jens Eikaas, Norwegian Ambassador to the Czech Republic.
A petition signed by more than 100,000 Czech children supports Winton's nomination.
"It is a great honour for me to hand this nomination letter and it is also great satisfaction. Last year I signed a nomination letter for Sir Nicholas and the signatures under the petition were a great support to me," Sobotka said.
"Actions of people like him prove to us that an individual may do a great deal for peace, freedom and democracy and that an active life with a clean sheet is meaningful," he said.
To save the children, Winton had to secure departure permits for all children from Germans, entry permits from the British authorities and admission to British families. These children would have otherwise ended up in concentration camps, having a small chance of surviving.
Winton arrived in Prague on Wednesday afternoon to attend the premiere of Nicky's Family.
Some of "Winton's children" attended the premiere of Minac's film in Prague's Congress Centre Thursday. Ten of them also appeared in the film.
Nicky's Family is a documentary with acted sequences, including facts and testimonies about Winton's rescue plan that have not been made public so far.
The film shows how Winton's act of courage positively influenced tens of thousands of young people all over the world, Minac said on Wednesday.
Thursday's screening was also attended by young people from all over the Czech Republic involved on the Lottery of Life international educational programme, who were inspired by Winton.
The audience gave Winton standing ovations when he entered the hall.
On the scene, Winton met pupils from a school bearing his name in Kunzak, south Bohemia, who initiated the petition for awarding Nobel Peace Prize to him.
Asked why his story inspires young people, Winton said it can give them a certain instruction and stimulus to what they should do in the future.
Minac said he was fascinated by Winton's story. This is why he has made already three films based on it.
Minac shot the feature film All My Loved Ones (1999) telling the story of one boy rescued by Winton and the Emmy-awarded documentary Power of Good: Nicholas Winton (2001).
The new film Nicky's Family will be released to Czech cinemas on February 3. It will also be presented in the United States, Britain and Slovakia as well as at international film festivals.
"During the shooting of the film we flew around the Earth six times and visited some 20 countries. We spent unbelievable 4000 hours in the editing room," said Patrik Pass, the script co-author, co-producer and editor of the documentary.
Winton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.
In 1998, Winton received a high Czech state decoration, the Order of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk from then Czech president Vaclav Havel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Film on Jewish kids' rescue from 1939 Prague
(AFP)
PRAGUE A documentary on the rescue of 669 Jewish children from pre-war Czechoslovakia by a British man dubbed the "English Schindler" premiered in Prague Thursday before hitting cinemas on February 3.
The premiere of "Nicky's Family" was attended by the 101-year-old Sir Nicholas Winton, who arranged for the children to be hosted by British families and negotiated their departure with the occupying Nazi Germans between March and September 1939.
"It gives an indication to the future. I don't think it helps to look in the past," Winton said about his story to a hall full of young people taking part in an educational project inspired by the rescue and spanning 17 countries.
Winton has been called the "English Schindler," in reference to Oskar Schindler, whose rescue of hundreds of Jews in wartime Poland was immortalised in Steven Spielberg's film "Schindler's List."
Winton's story only came to light by chance 50 years later when his wife found papers relating to it in a battered briefcase in his attic.
Over 100,000 Czech children have signed a petition for Winton to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
"The story has an immense energy. When we travelled the world, we could see how it is passed on to the young generation which asks what it can do to make the world different," said film producer Patrik Pass.
The filmmakers produced 500 hours of film material and visited 20 countries to talk to the "Winton children," some of whom attended the premiere in Prague. Up to now, 261 of the 669 have been traced.
"Many of the Winton children who are alive do not know the story. We're looking for them," said the film's Slovak director Matej Minac, whose documentary "Nicholas Winton - The Power of Good" won the International Emmy Award in 2002.
In one scene -- one of a few using actors to illustrate the atmosphere -- a mother has to decide whether to leave a weeping child on the train or whether to take her back home.
"We met a woman, a Winton child, in Washington, and she said it was her sister's story... it was like 'Sophie's Choice'," said Minac, referring to the William Styron novel set during the Holocaust.
And, recalling a moment from the shooting, he added: "Everybody was moved, everybody started to cry, and I could suddenly see the scene had mystically returned, because this is what it must have been like on the platform all those 70 years ago."
Nazi Germany seized former Czechoslovakia in March 1939, less than six months after having carved off a swathe of its territory, and six months before the outbreak of World War II.
Some of "Winton's children" attended the premiere of MináÄ's film. (ÄŒTK)
Prague, Jan 20 (CTK) - Sir Nicholas Winton, 101, of Britain attended Thursday the premiere of Slovak director Matej Minac's documentary Nicky's Family on how he saved the lives of 669 Jewish children from then Czechoslovakia just before World War Two broke out.
The film was presented by Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra.
Former Czech president Vaclav Havel was also present at the premiere.
Winton told the audiences that the film was a strong experience for him too. He pointed out two words: ethics and compromise.
Czech Senate deputy chairman Premysl Sobotka proposed Winton for Nobel Peace Prize Thursday following the screening.
Sobotka handed the letter nominating Sir Winton for the prize to Jens Eikaas, Norwegian Ambassador to the Czech Republic.
A petition signed by more than 100,000 Czech children supports Winton's nomination.
"It is a great honour for me to hand this nomination letter and it is also great satisfaction. Last year I signed a nomination letter for Sir Nicholas and the signatures under the petition were a great support to me," Sobotka said.
"Actions of people like him prove to us that an individual may do a great deal for peace, freedom and democracy and that an active life with a clean sheet is meaningful," he said.
To save the children, Winton had to secure departure permits for all children from Germans, entry permits from the British authorities and admission to British families. These children would have otherwise ended up in concentration camps, having a small chance of surviving.
Winton arrived in Prague on Wednesday afternoon to attend the premiere of Nicky's Family.
Some of "Winton's children" attended the premiere of Minac's film in Prague's Congress Centre Thursday. Ten of them also appeared in the film.
Nicky's Family is a documentary with acted sequences, including facts and testimonies about Winton's rescue plan that have not been made public so far.
The film shows how Winton's act of courage positively influenced tens of thousands of young people all over the world, Minac said on Wednesday.
Thursday's screening was also attended by young people from all over the Czech Republic involved on the Lottery of Life international educational programme, who were inspired by Winton.
The audience gave Winton standing ovations when he entered the hall.
On the scene, Winton met pupils from a school bearing his name in Kunzak, south Bohemia, who initiated the petition for awarding Nobel Peace Prize to him.
Asked why his story inspires young people, Winton said it can give them a certain instruction and stimulus to what they should do in the future.
Minac said he was fascinated by Winton's story. This is why he has made already three films based on it.
Minac shot the feature film All My Loved Ones (1999) telling the story of one boy rescued by Winton and the Emmy-awarded documentary Power of Good: Nicholas Winton (2001).
The new film Nicky's Family will be released to Czech cinemas on February 3. It will also be presented in the United States, Britain and Slovakia as well as at international film festivals.
"During the shooting of the film we flew around the Earth six times and visited some 20 countries. We spent unbelievable 4000 hours in the editing room," said Patrik Pass, the script co-author, co-producer and editor of the documentary.
Winton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.
In 1998, Winton received a high Czech state decoration, the Order of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk from then Czech president Vaclav Havel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Film on Jewish kids' rescue from 1939 Prague
(AFP)
PRAGUE A documentary on the rescue of 669 Jewish children from pre-war Czechoslovakia by a British man dubbed the "English Schindler" premiered in Prague Thursday before hitting cinemas on February 3.
The premiere of "Nicky's Family" was attended by the 101-year-old Sir Nicholas Winton, who arranged for the children to be hosted by British families and negotiated their departure with the occupying Nazi Germans between March and September 1939.
"It gives an indication to the future. I don't think it helps to look in the past," Winton said about his story to a hall full of young people taking part in an educational project inspired by the rescue and spanning 17 countries.
Winton has been called the "English Schindler," in reference to Oskar Schindler, whose rescue of hundreds of Jews in wartime Poland was immortalised in Steven Spielberg's film "Schindler's List."
Winton's story only came to light by chance 50 years later when his wife found papers relating to it in a battered briefcase in his attic.
Over 100,000 Czech children have signed a petition for Winton to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
"The story has an immense energy. When we travelled the world, we could see how it is passed on to the young generation which asks what it can do to make the world different," said film producer Patrik Pass.
The filmmakers produced 500 hours of film material and visited 20 countries to talk to the "Winton children," some of whom attended the premiere in Prague. Up to now, 261 of the 669 have been traced.
"Many of the Winton children who are alive do not know the story. We're looking for them," said the film's Slovak director Matej Minac, whose documentary "Nicholas Winton - The Power of Good" won the International Emmy Award in 2002.
In one scene -- one of a few using actors to illustrate the atmosphere -- a mother has to decide whether to leave a weeping child on the train or whether to take her back home.
"We met a woman, a Winton child, in Washington, and she said it was her sister's story... it was like 'Sophie's Choice'," said Minac, referring to the William Styron novel set during the Holocaust.
And, recalling a moment from the shooting, he added: "Everybody was moved, everybody started to cry, and I could suddenly see the scene had mystically returned, because this is what it must have been like on the platform all those 70 years ago."
Nazi Germany seized former Czechoslovakia in March 1939, less than six months after having carved off a swathe of its territory, and six months before the outbreak of World War II.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass