SPIRIT OF THE JUST
(A FEATURE FILM)
"When the storm has passed, and the wicked are gone, the spirit of the just endures."
Screenplay by: Sheri Sussman
Based on the Memoir: “Life Goes on Regardless” by Sarah Saaroni (OAM)
Producers: Marcie Jastrow/Richard Jastrow/Sheri Sussman
Synopsis: “Spirit of the Just” is a true, coming-of-age survival story of Sabka - a teenage Polish Jewish girl who made it through WWII all alone. She survived by her wits, courage, and will to live. She went unsuspected as being Jewish because of her blonde hair and blue eyes for nearly five years on her own, traveling from Poland to Germany and even living with a German family in Dresden.
Sabka was eventually caught by the Nazis and escaped just as soldiers were about to put her on the train for the concentration camps. She constantly changed her identity, and even posed as a Red Cross nurse, saving the lives hundreds of soldiers.
Although "Spirit of the Just” depicts the plight of the orphaned children during WWII, it tells the story of ALL children who still are surviving wars on their own. It portrays that “crimes against ALL humanity” occurred, but yet there were those who showed the best that humanity has to offer in its darkest day.
This feature film project has a $9.9M budget. Location: Budapest..
*Budget & Screenplay available upon request.
Click here for the memoir "Life goes on regardless" by Sarah Saaroni (OAM)
Click here for "Hope for a better future" by Sarah Saaroni (OAM)
BLACK LIST COVERAGE:
(review of the screenplay)
"This pulse-pounding true story is finely crafted and propulsive, dropping its narrow escapes and reversals at just the right times to continually raise the stakes and elevate the drama (the train sequence, where Sabka breaks away from the other prisoners, is an excellent example). Sabka is a brave and resourceful protagonist – her fearlessness in front of the Gestapo, her quick study of triage toward the end, these things continually deepen her character as the story progresses. Because she is on her own the entire story, moving from situation to situation, she takes on a kind of Huck Finn quality – it’s an adventure tale, with danger literally at every turn. The writing is lean and pointed, a page turner. And while this is a Holocaust story, it’s refreshing that it largely avoids the delving into the horrors of the war most often present in these movies – its lens is laser-focused on Sabka, and seeing only what she sees gives it a specific and rich voice.
PROSPECTS:
Here’s a Holocaust movie that is effective nonetheless, a well-written tale with a strong protagonist and lots of suspense. It’s a sprawling period piece that boasts a relatively high price tag (always a market challenge), but is a strong entry in a genre that often attracts talent on both sides of the camera – with a up-and-comer attached as Sabka, could easily be a prestige film worthy of any studio’s name.
