It’s eighty-one years to the day since U.S. Army soldiers liberated 2,500 people from a train near Magdeburg.
And it’s been too long since we’ve posted updates on the production of the film about that event!
The big news is that in February we spent two days in London with our new friend Sir David Suchet. The first was as guests of the completely brilliant James Bulgin at the Imperial War Museum, where we got the “backstage tour” of the Holocaust exhibition he has designed and directed there. Our interview with Bulgin will figure prominently in the film!
The second day was in the recording studio where Suchet’s talent, experience, and human warmth were in evidence throughout.
A break in the recording. Director Mike Edwards, historian Matthew Rozell, and screenwriter Lee Shackleford (me), hanging out with Sir David Suchet. As one does.
This was my view of David throughout — I was right across the table from him in case he had any questions about the script as he went along.
At one point he looked up at me and said, “Lee, this is beautiful.” Yeah, well, he was making it beautiful.
Then it was off to Germany to film a scene at the place where the train was abandoned. It’s a poetic moment at the monument stone commemorating the liberation, with our dear Johanna Mücke remembering what this whole story has meant to her.
There’s more to the shot than that, but I don’t want to give away too much!
Now what remains of the production is a handful of closeups of tank treads and ration canisters and hospital beds … that kind of thing. And the Herculean task of editing the film, cutting all of this footage so it lines up with the script. Especially the marvelous narration we now have!
So when will the finished product be in theatres? It depends to a large degree on sponsorship. We need a lot of funding for the distribution of the film, the kind of money that almost certainly has to come from some entity with deep pockets. Our team is in conversation with many corporations and organizations … maybe one will step forward and get us to where we need to be.
If you have any ideas — and especially if you have any such connections — do not hesitate to reach out via the Augusta Chiwy Foundation web site: https://augusta-chiwy-foundation.square.site/!