Screening of the film “Edge of Light” and a conversation with the director, Wojciech Szumowski

Led by: Anita Piotrowska

“Edge of Light” is a story of how a small community in the region of Podhale, which is assembled around Dariusz Popiela, is trying to reclaim its memory. Dariusz Popiela is a slalom canoeist and a multiple – Polish, European, and World Champion, an Olympic medal winner, and founder of the Popiela Family Foundation, known also as the initiator of the “People Not Numbers” project.

The film tells a story of a group of young people who denounce Hitler’s hope for erasing Jewish history. Together, they begin working at an old, forgotten Jewish cemetery in Czarny Dunajec. The film documents the process of reclaiming the memory of people who used to live in this town: reclaiming their first names and family names. The edge of light, when light falls at a specific angle, allows us to read the faded letters on a tombstone. The effort of collecting stories from local townspeople brings back the memory of their Jewish neighbors who perished in the Shoah. The film depicts extraordinary meetings, among them also the heroes of the film have to face the unknown story of their own families.

Wojciech Szumowski – b. in 1961 in Bielsko-Biała. Alumni of the famous Film School in Łódź. Director, producer. For over 30 years, he has been active in the field of film and television production. Author of multiple documentaries and winner of multiple awards. His films have been screened at tv stations all over the world (e.g. Al Jazeera, TVP, TVN, Discovery, BBC World). He has been awarded at festivals in Warsaw, Łódź, Cervino, Sichuan, and Vancouver. He received the Grand Press Award twice: in 2010 and 2013.

This is an accompanying event to the exhibition “Some Were Neighbors: Choice, Human Behavior, and the Holocaust” created by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Partner of the event: Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation

In Polish with English subtitles. Free admission.