The Films of John J. Michalczyk

HOLOCAUST FILMS -- TWO DOCUMENTARIES

THE CROSS AND THE STAR: JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND THE HOLOCAUST (1992) boldly examines the tragedy of Christian Anti-Semitism that may have directly or indirectly paved the way for the Holocaust.The documentary argues that the ideological seeds which developed in the Nazi Nuremberg laws and then the death camp at Auschwitz may very well have been sown in Christian dogma many centuries prior to the rise of the Third Reich. The film asks where the foreign governments, the institutional church, the Christian neighbors were while the Nazi atrocities were being committed. THE CROSS AND THE STAR comes to conclusions which generate both dismay and hope, pointing out such examples as the Second Vatican Council of the Sixties in which the Church recognized its unfortunate rapport with Jews, sparking the initiation of a new Jewish-Christian dialogue.

Some Interviewees: Dr. James Luther Adams (American Theologian in Nai Germany) Dr. Jacob Birnbaum (Holocaust Survivor) Dr. Helen Fein (Accounting for Genocide) Prof. Lawrence Langer (Holocaust Scholar) Rev. Michael McCarry, C.S.P. (Christology After Auschwitz Mr. Pierre Sauvage (Weapons of the Spirit) Prof. David Wyman (Abandonment of the Jews)

Contact: First Run/Icarus Films 153 Waverly Place, 6th Floor New York, NY 10014
Phone: (800) 876-1710 (212) 727-1711

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IN THE SHADOW OF THE REICH: NAZI MEDICINE is a one-hour documentary by Prof. John J. Michalczyk, Director of Film Studies at Boston College, completed for the 50th Anniversary of the Nuremberg Physicians' Trial (December 1946-August 1947). The documentary was shot at the Auschwitz and Majdanek concentration camp and features a score of interviews with the leading scholars and survivors involved in the study of Nazi medicine: Dr. Michael Grodin, Dr. Charles Roland, Dr. Jay Katz, Mrs. Eva Kor, Dr. Arthur Caplan, Prof. Michael Kater, Prof. Donald Dietrich, and Dr. Paul Vinger, along with a 1995 interview at Auschwtiz with a former S.S. doctor, Hans Munch. During the Third Reich, in a step by step process, the Nazi doctors went from racial theory, to sterilization of the unfit, to euthansia, and finally arrived at the Final Solution of the Jewish question--genocide. The doctors were integrally involved with these decisions in every way, from racial laws and diagnoses to selections and unethical experimentation. This documentary graphically traces the medical involvement in this process.

FOR VIDEO PURCHASE:
Contact: First Run/Icarus Films 153 Waverly Place, 6th Floor New York, NY 10014
Phone: (800) 876-1710 (212) 727-1711

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Contact: John J. Michalczyk, Etoile Productions, 51 Barney Hill Road Wayland, MA 01778
Phone: (617) 552-3895 (Boston College)
FAX: (617) 552-0134
E-Mail john.michalczyk@bc.edu

FOR TEXT: Medicine, Ethics, and the Third Reich: Historical and Contemporary Issues John J. Michalczyk, ed. A series of well-documented articles by leading scholars of Nazi medicine.
Contact: Sheed & Ward, Pub. 115 E. Armour Blvd. P.O. Box 419492 Kansas City, MO 64141-6492 Phone: (816) 968-2263
FAX: (816) 968-2268 or 968-2280

JEWISH STUDIES -- Two Documentaries

OF STARS & SHAMROCKS: BOSTON'S JEWS & IRISH (1995)

OF STARS & SHAMROCKS: BOSTON'S JEWS & IRISH (1995) reveals the "push-pull" syndrome at work in the heart of the European communities of the Russian Jews of the pogroms and the Irish of the devastating famine. Both left the oppression of their countries with great hopes in America, the land of opportunity. Their story is the microcosm of the immigrant phenomenon throughout the United States. The two ethnic groups settled in Protestant Brahmin Boston of the late 19th and early 20th century. The myth of a land of limitless opportunity and acceptance was shattered by the reality of bigotry, exploitation, exclusion, and discrimination. Although both communities were victims of prejudices of the Brahmins, they, too, harbored their own prejudices against each other, coming at odds over the competition for jobs, housing, and eduction. The film chronicles the impact on both groups by such famous/infamous figures as Fathers Charles Coughlin ("The Radio Priest") and Leonard Feeney, Boston's "Rascal King" Mayor, James Michael Curley, and Cardinal Richard Cushing, whose brother-in-law was Jewish. Interviews with figues such as Lonard Zakim (Anti-Defamation League), Nat Hentoff (Boston Boy), former Mayor Kevin White, Jack Beatty (Rascal King), and Philip Perlmutter (Divided We Fall), among others, add a personal touch to the documetary.

Contact: The National Center for Jewish Film Brandeis University, Lown 102 Waltham, MA 2254
Phone: (617) 899-7044
FAX: (617) 736-2070
e-mail: NCJF@logos.cc.brandeis.edu


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DECEMBER'S DILEMMA:  THE CRECHE, THE DREIDEL AND THE STAR (1997) is a documentary that examines contemporary interfaith issues associated with the holidays, in particular, with Christmas and Chanukah.
According to Michalczyk, DECEMBER'S DILEMMA "offers a fresh view of origins and spirit of the two rich traditions of Christmas and Chanukah.  At the same time," he continues, "it reveals the tensions of interfaith marriage, controversies over public displays of religious symbols and isolation during this season of light."  This documentary features interviews with leading Jewish and Catholic theologians, clergy, sociologists, authors and teachers.  The film is also comprised of traditional Christmas and Chanukah music as well as archival footage and photographs.

Contact: John J. Michalczyk, Etoile Productions, 51 Barney Hill Road Wayland, MA 01778
Phone: (617) 552-3895 (Boston College)
FAX: (617) 552-0134
E-Mail john.michalczyk@bc.edu

I. OUT OF THE ASHES:  NORTHERN IRELAND'S FRAGILE PEACE (1998)

OUT OF THE ASHES: NORTHERN IRELAND'S FRAGILE PEACE (1998) is the story of hope for a peaceful future.  More than a quarter century of bloodshed has left its mark on Northern Ireland, since the conflict was rekindled in the 1960s.  A legacy of mutual suspicion and spiralling violence pits Catholic against Protestant, Irish against English, and Republican against Loyalist.  Europe's longest running conflict is almost as old as Irish history itself.  Despite historic resentment, voices of change can be found on both sides of the divide.  These are the voices behind the official peace process, supporting the emergence of a lasting peace.  While witnesseing to the pain and complexity of the problem, key political figures, religious leaders, and community activists challenge their communities to new ways of thinking.  Through ongoing peace talks and cross-community initiatives, new opportunities for a covenant of peace hang in a delicate balance.  OUT OF THE ASHES offers personal and historical views of the unrest in Northern Ireland from the mid-1960s to present day, with interviews with political and religious leaders, former paramilitaries, and Catholic and Protestant children.  While some prominent personalities such as Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams appear, "the primary focus is on newer voices," according to Michalczyk, "ones seldom heard before:  the women who are forced to take up so much of the day-to-day work in family and community life; and the former prisoners, who have undergone a radical change from using violence to pursuing social action.  As the peace process goes on these are the people who are truly fostering a long-term change."

Contact: John J. Michalczyk, Etoile Productions, 51 Barney Hill Road Wayland, MA 01778
Phone: (617) 552-3895 (Boston College)
FAX: (617) 552-0134
E-Mail john.michalczyk@bc.edu

PRELUDE TO KOSOVO: WAR AND PEACE IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA (1999) depicts the bitter cival war in the former Yugoslavia.  Shot on location in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, the documentary combines graphic footage and interviews with religious and political figures.  The film addresses the ideology of "ethnic cleansing" and the massacres resulting from a natinalist quest for political, cultural and religious domination.  The Serbian Orthodox, Bosnian Muslim and Croatian Catholic perspectives are all represented.  The film features original Balkan music by Alexis Gavras, Vedran Smailovic and Vuk Kulenovic.

Contact: John J. Michalczyk, Etoile Productions, 51 Barney Hill Road Wayland, MA 01778
Phone: (617) 552-3895 (Boston College)
FAX: (617) 552-0134
E-Mail john.michalczyk@bc.edu

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In post-production:  1999-2000  Filmed on location in South Africa, summer 1999.

In post-production: 2000-2001  Filmed on location in Jerusalem, summer 2000.

UNEXPECTED OPENINGS:  NORTHERN IRELAND PRISONERS (2000) studies the evolution of paramilitaries in Northern Ireland with respect to the ongoing peace process.  It traces the personal narratives of these men who were considered by some as "terrorists" and by others, "freedom fighters." The documentary, shot in the prisons of Belfast and in the homes and offices of the Loyalist and Republican ex-prisoners, captures the long road of the prisoners' reflection in confinement and their final understanding that their respective objectives could not be attained by violence.  Many of these paramilitaries from the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), now returning to society after 15 to 20 years of imprisonment, are currently involved in such activity as social work, politics, and education.  These men have become Northern Ireland's hidden resource in the peace process.  How will they be accepted, the film questions?

A two-part series for television:  Part I --World War II to 1960's
                                                         Part II--Origins of HMO's to present

In post-production, with completion date of late Fall 2000

An artistic presentation of the visual impact of the murals in their social-political context.  Shot on location in Belfast and Derry, Northern Ireland, with interviews of artists and experts on the murals.

In post-production, with completion date of early Spring 2001

I.  HOLOCAUST FILM FOOTAGE:

Auschwitz and Majdanek: Interior/Exterior

Original shot in BETA/PAL Available in BETA/SP and VHS/NTSC Independent and Commercial Rates (Burn-in VHS on request)
CONTACT: John J. Michalczyk, Etoile Productions, 51 Barney Hill Road Wayland, MA 01778

PHONE: (617) 552-3895
FAX: (617) 552-0134
E-MAIL: john.michalczyk@bc.edu

II.  NORTHERN IRELAND FOOTAGE:

III. BOSNIA, SERBIA, CROATIA FOOTAGE:

IV.  SOUTH AFRICA FOOTAGE:

V.  JERUSALEM FOOTAGE: