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As unlikely
as it may seem in a film about the Nazi Holocaust of World War II, this
spellbinding documentary offers a message of inspiration and hope.
"The Optimists" illuminates an almost forgotten chapter of
history: the survival of the Sephardic Jewish population of Bulgaria thanks to the
courageous opposition to SS orders to transport them to death camps.
Evanston filmmaker Jacky Comforty, whose family was among those saved,
and his wife and partner Lisa, spent 12 years working on this film after
the startling discovery of 2,500 photographs from that era saved by his
grandmothers. Years of exhaustive research and hundreds interviews are
evident in the rich texture of this film, recalling not only the life and
times of Comforty's family but the entire Bulgarian Jewish community —
long since relocated to Israel. (BI) (85 min.) No MPAA rating.
κκκκ
— Review by Bruce Ingram of Pioneer
Press —
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