The miniseries “A Small Light” reveals who are the people who helped Anne Frank

The miniseries “A Small Light” reveals who are the people who helped Anne Frank


The story accompanies, in eight chapters, the true trajectory of the woman who helped hide the Jews from the Nazis

Liev Schreiber was visiting Ukraine wracked with conflict when he received a script about real-life events some 80 years ago that felt strangely timely.

It was a story set during the occupation of Holland from the nazis in 1942 and how some Dutch risked their lives to save Jews holocaust.

the famous Anne Frank it is inside, but it is almost peripheral. Instead, a little light, eight-part miniseries National Geographic, focuses on a young newlywed who helped hide Frank and also provided food and other necessities to people living at great risk. The series is available on disney+ and go Star+.

“The central storyline of this young woman coming of age and coping with her marriage gives you an incredibly intimate perspective on what it’s like to have your life cut short by a home invasion,” said Schreiber. “It felt so resonant to me.”

A little light is the protagonist Bel Powley AS Miep Gies, a real hero for protecting eight people in a secret annex in Amsterdam, where Frank would write his famous diary. Schreiber plays Anne’s father, Otto Frank.

In addition to a major historical storyline, the series also examines how far strangers will go to help someone in need. Gies, who was not Jewish, would have faced certain death if discovered.

“There’s no point in retelling a moment of this part of history that everyone knows so well if we’re going to be shocked by the same historical facts we already know,” he said. Powley. “You have to make people think, ‘What would I do and what should I do?’ Because the situation is not so different now.”

Initially, viewers are presented with it gie as an aimless party girl, who transforms into a resistance fighter after the Nazi invasion. He bluffs his way through army checkpoints and collects scarce food for the illegal immigrants. She tells one of the people she saves, “If you need to cry, cry now.”

Gies was the secretary of Otto Frank, and her fierce and selfless side put her marriage in jeopardy. In an argument scene, she tells her husband, “It’s the right thing to do and I’ve agreed to do it, and I didn’t think I should consult you before I decide to save a person’s life.”

“She was firm in her decision about what was the right thing to do,” she said. Powley. “She didn’t hesitate and was also incredibly confident, perky, vibrant and alive. I always pictured her with this huge smile on her face at all times.”

Schreiber, who spoke up about the Ukrainian invasion in part because he has grandparents there, said the courage to gie it was emphasized by the fact that he was not related by blood to the people he was helping.

“The reality of the situation is that we should all be concerned about what’s going on in the Eastern Europe or, for that matter, what’s going on in Sudan or Turkey or wherever,” he said. “I felt there was something about Miep that truly represents the best in each of us, those of us who say ‘yes’ each other. I thought it was a great time to tell that story.”

After the Nazi invasion of Holland in July 1942 the Frank family went into hiding. The family Van Pels followed a week later. Four months later, an eighth person joined them: Fritz Pffeffer, dentist and acquaintance of the Frank family. The group was discovered in 1944 and sent to the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp.

A little light it shows the humanity of each member of the group, from Anne’s rebellion to the teasing of family members and the hardships of the hidden life. There are fights and whining and stubbornness.

“Many of us are not familiar with bombs hitting our homes,” he said. Schreiber. “But we can relate to a relationship that’s not going well. We can relate to a broken meal. We can accept these things that were happening in these people’s lives when the rockets started falling. And that brings us into the story in a way.” Alone.”

The series takes place during a new spasm of anti-Semitism in America, with the issue of anti-Jewish incidents up by more than 35% in the last year, going from 2,721 in 2021 to 3,697 in 2022.

Schreiber views the numbers with alarm, especially since he has just finished a series on the holocaust. “The patterns are the same: disinformation, disinformation, scapegoats,” she said. “Unfortunately, we’re seeing all of this again in the United States.”

Source: Terra

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