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Sunday, January 15 at 3:00pm Bill Cosford Cinema

Czechoslovakia | 103 minutes | 1949

Distant Journey

Southeast US Premiere

One of the first films to confront the horrors of the Holocaust also remains one of the most powerful. Suffused with the visceral dread of a waking nightmare, Distant Journey draws from director and Holocaust survivor Alfréd Radok’s own experiences. It tells the story of a Czechoslovak Jewish family — including a young doctor and her gentile husband — whose lives are torn apart by the terrors of the Nazi occupation, leading them to a grim fight for survival in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Blending expressionistic cinematography with archival documentary footage (some drawn from Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will) to potent effect, this harrowing revelation of human atrocity was banned in its home country for more than forty years, only to reemerge as urgent and impactful as ever.

Director's Bio

Directed by Alfréd Radok

Director Photo
Alfréd Radok was the founder of Laterna magika, and one of the most prominent Czech and European theatre-makers. He staged dramas, operas, and operettas, and was also devoted to film. He worked at the Fifth of May Theatre, the National Theatre, and the Municipal Theatres of Prague.

Cast and Credits

Director

Alfréd Radok

Screenwriter

Mojmir Drvota, Erik Kolár, Alfréd Radok

Cinematographer

Josef Strecha

Editor

Jirina Lukesová

Cast

Blanka Waleská, Otomar Krejca, Viktor Ocásek

Film Info

Year

1949

Country

Czechoslovakia

Run-time

103 minutes

Language

Czech and German with English subtitles
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