Cinema Studies – Documentary

“The Children of Chabannes” (Documentary, War), (Kanopy), 1999, 1hr 33min.

From 1939 to 1942, the village of Chabannnes in central France, more than 400 Jewish children were hidden, schooled and ultimately saved through the heroic efforts of the school’s director and teachers and of Jewish rescue organizations that first got the children there, add then, as war closed around them, got all but a handful out safely.  In 1966, two aged teachers and the children and their families reunite.  Lisa Gossels, whose father and uncle were among the children, records it.  Survivors’ comments, photos and drawings from the war, footage of the school and town, and a celebration of the heroism and leadership of the school’s director, Feliz Chevrier, comprise the film.  Directed by Lisa Gossels and Dean Wetherell, the movie won eight awards and had one other nomination.