Tag Archives: short film

Mapping Auschwitz today in LA for International Holocaust Remembrance Day & Survivor Henry Oertelt’s Yahrzeit

27 Jan

Today is Author and Holocaust Survivor Henry Oertelt’s Yahrzeit – the one year anniversary of his death. He died at age 90 after speaking about his experiences surviving the Holocaust for almost forty years. Coincidentally this is also International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

I optioned Henry’s book, An Unbroken Chain: My Journey through the Nazi Holocaust when he was eighty-seven years old. I knew that time was of the essence. After we came to an agreement, we traveled to Minnesota and met him in person with the rest of his family one memorable September weekend.

Henry read my first draft of the screenplay adaptation of his book and gave us his blessing for the project. After a few years of research, I started volunteering at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust as a docent. Then, the Museum recently came on board as our fiscal partner, giving us credibility and more exposure. After a few years of fundraising, we came up with enough money to produce a high quality short film. We felt this was better than doing nothing. If this film moves people, it could still evolve into a feature length film.

We are now in postproduction with our short film with the working title, Bashert – which means “Meant to Be.” We look forward to sharing it with everyone in the coming months.

Additionally, to commemorate this important day in history, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and their community partners will mark an area the same size as Auschwitz around Los Angeles with a flash event.

To participate, go to their map (sign in with your Google account) and pick your location to participate in this exciting event.

You can also sign up for our text message alert which will update and inform you about Mapping Auschwitz news. To join, text the phrase mapLA to 25827.

Check out the museum website to learn more.

Production Underway for Short Film Bashert Sponsored by Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

18 Jan

Steve Alderfer as Commander Arthur Fink

Hollywood, Calif. January 18, 2012—launch flix, a production and digital media company, is currently in post-production on a short film, Bashert (Meant to Be), from the award-winning book they optioned from Holocaust Survivor Henry Oertelt, An Unbroken Chain, My Journey through the Nazi Holocaust. The oldest Holocaust museum in the United States, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, is sponsoring the film.

Bashert details an important evening in Oertelt’s life after he immigrated to Minnesota from Berlin when he met the American commander whose military unit liberated his concentration camp when Henry was on a three-day death march outside Flossenburg, Germany. This exchange is documented in Oertelt’s life story. Oertelt’s granddaughter, Dr. Corey Samuels, is an associate producer on the film.

Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Visual History Foundation made Henry’s life story one of five selected survivor testimonials featured on their Web exhibit from among over 55,000 collected stories in 2005.

launch flix CEO, Stephanie Houser, worked with many people to make this production a reality. Among them was her friend—and writing and producing producing partner—Pamela Lynn Sullivan, who was instrumental in making this project a reality. Additionally, Pam’s nine-year-old daughter, Caroline Sullivan, will make her acting debut, starring as Stephanie “Steffi” Oertelt in the short.

Houser has been a volunteer docent at Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust since the museum opened their new location in October 2010. The museum is celebrating their fifty-first anniversary this year according to Mark Rothman, Executive Director of the museum.

“We are excited to follow the film’s progress as it gets entered to film festivals,” said Mark Rothman. “We look forward to eventually hosting the film in our museum’s screening room,” he said.

launch flix is partnering with the museum in order for people to be able to make tax-deductible donations for the film project. To make a donation, visit http://www.lamoth.org/support-the-museum/ and click on the blue button on the right that says “Donate Now.” Then choose “Bashert: A Short Film” in the drop down menu for the designation option half way down the page.

Born in Berlin Germany of Jewish faith, Heinz (Henry) Oertelt was twelve years old when Hitler came to power in 1933. Oertelt died earlier this year at age ninety on January 27, the International Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and the anniversary of the day Auschwitz was liberated. One year later, January 27, 2012, Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust is hosting an elaborate community event called the “Mapping Auschwitz Project.”

Henry Oertelt was liberated by General Patton’s Third Army during the Flossenburg Death March in April 1943. He arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1949 and spent 40 years speaking about his experiences and the importance of tolerance, political involvement and confronting hatred. Oertelt was past chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council and Holocaust education committee. He was recipient of the JCRC’s “Volunteer of the Year” award, as well as the distinguished “Eleven Who Care” honor from KARE 11 TV in Minnesota in May 2006. Additionally, the city of St. Paul, Minnesota proclaimed “Henry A. Oertelt Day” on April 23, 2006.

Henry’s half brother, ninety-seven-year-old Maine resident Kurt Messerschmidt, is currently featured in the first chapter of a new teacher’s curriculum called Echoes and Reflections recently put out by the Anti Defamation League, USC Shoah Foundation and Yad VaShem. You can learn more about the brothers and their story at http://6mfor6m.org.

launch flix is currently fundraising and developing a feature film with a $6 million budget based on the life story of Holocaust survivor and author Henry A. Oertelt. The filmmakers have created a grassroots campaign called $6M for 6M. The goal is to reach six million people willing to donate at least one dollar each, share Henry’s story of confronting hatred and raise awareness for Holocaust education. Tax-deductible donations are currently being accepted.

About the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust (LAMH) has a two-fold mission that has remained constant since its inception in 1961: commemoration and education. http://www.lamoth.org/.

About launch flix
launch flix is an award-winning production company in Los Angeles. launch flix creates and produces original content films, shorts and Web videos that inform, entertain and educate diverse audiences. They focus on “green” production, internet marketing and profitability to give partners the highest return on their investment. For more information on launch flix, the short film Bashert or the movie, An Unbroken Chain, visit www.launchflix.com.

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A short film: Bashert (Meant to Be)

19 Nov

We are so excited to report that this weekend we have officially started casting for our short film, tentatively titled Bashert (Meant to Be.) Bashert is a Hebrew word.

(beh-sheert) destined, fated, meant to be.

The short is based on a true story that happened to my friend, Holocaust Survivor, Henry Oertelt, a few years after he immigrated to Minnesota. Henry’s granddaughter, Dr. Corey Samuels, is acting as associate producer on this production and she will actually be present at our casting sessions this weekend.

The log line is… a German immigrant is questioned during a cocktail party in Minnesota regarding his whereabouts during World War II…and discovers that the world can be a very small place.

In the early 1950’s, Henry found work at a furniture store. Both Henry and his new wife, Inge were learning English and studying to be citizens of the United States. They were extremely grateful to have made it to the United States, and in fact, they never left St. Paul. They saved up enough money for a car and eventually had their own house.

Henry, like many Survivors, originally never wanted to talk about his experiences in Germany during the Holocaust. However, he and Inge attended a party where Arnold Fink, one of the guests was very nosy and kept pestering him with questions. Henry tried to dodge him but he was very persistent. Finally, Arthur extracted the information he’s looking for– the time and place of Henry’s liberation. They discover that both of them were there at the exact same time!

Our goal is to finish the short by year’s end so that we can enter into into film festivals in 2012. This short is meant to raise awareness for our larger feature film project called An Unbroken Chain.

We hope that this film will help raise visibility and financial support for Henry’s life story. Not only did he talk to Arnold about what happened to him during the war, but eventually he spoke to schools, churches and other organizations. Henry told his story for almost forty years and received numerous awards, honorary doctorates and even the key to the city! He and his daughter Steffi also wrote a book called An Unbroken Chain: My Journey through the Nazi Holocaust, which you can buy here. We’ve optioned the book and have already raised two million dollars towards the six million dollars needed to shoot it in Europe.

Sadly, Steffi passed away in May, 2010 after a long battle with brain cancer. Henry just died this year at age 90, but he had seen the script for the film and was very excited to have his story help teach many people the important lessons he shared.

If you are interested in participating in this production, please email casting (at) 6mfor6m dot org. We are still looking for some crew, as well as an editor, sound technician, and other positions.

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