Defiant Requiem

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Summary

DEFIANT REQUIEM tells the little-known story of the Nazi concentration camp, Terezin. Led by imprisoned conductor Rafael Schächter, the inmates of Terezin fought back...with art and music. Through hunger, disease and slave labor, the Jewish inmates of Terezin hold onto their humanity by staging plays, composing opera and using paper and ink to record the horrors around them.

This creative rebellion reaches its peak when Schächter teaches a choir of 150 inmates one of the worlds most difficult and powerful choral works, Verdi′s Requiem, re-imagined as a condemnation of the Nazis. The choir would ultimately confront the Nazis face to face... and sing to them what they dare not say.

For over ten years, conductor Murry Sidlin has dreamed of bringing the Requiem back to Terezin. Now, through soaring concert footage, powerful survivor recollections, cinematic dramatizations and evocative animation, DEFIANT REQUIEM brings the incredible story of this artistic uprising to life.

Musical Director and Conductor Murry Sidlin will attend

Canadian Premiere

Year: 2012
Genre: Documentary
Country: USA, Czech Republic, UK
Language: English
Subject: Post Holocaust
Run time: 85 minutes
Format: N/A

Director: Doug Shultz
Cast: narrated by Bebe Neuwirth