Awards
Prix Fémina Belge du Cinéma, Belgium 1980
Mention SpecialeThe American Film Festival 1981
Red Ribbon WinnerLe Festival du Film Anti-Raciste, Paris 1982
Official SelectionSan Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Official Selection
As If It Were Yesterday documents the little-known heroism of the Belgian Resistance who, during the Nazi occupation, hid over 4,000 Jewish children rescuing them from deportation and extermination often at the risk of their own lives. With interviews and anecdotes from those taking part in the resistance effort, a story unfolds with great understatement, complementing the modesty of these individuals who risked everything because they could not let others die.The film inspired the creation in 1991 of The Hidden Child, a worldwide network of hidden children which for three decades has organized reunions of formally hidden children with the families who hid them in Belgium during WWII.
“In the wake of films about the Holocaust, invoking ineffable sadness in the viewer, As If It Were Yesterday is a film that shines with hope. It is an affirmation of the human spirit in the most trying of times.” - Charles Ryweck, The Hollywood Reporter
“This film suggests the glimmer of hope to be found within horrific circumstances, and applauds the modest heroes and heroines by whose graces the filmmakers are alive today.”- Annette Insdorf, Newsday“What they did sprang naturally from the spirit of decent humans.” – Richard F. Shepard, The New York Times.
“An important work of art.” – Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize Laureate
“A film about resistance to make us all proud. Filmed so directly that we provide the emotions.” – Jay Leyda, Film History Scholar
“Luminous.” – Jean Houston, Scholar, philosopher, Human Potential Movement.
“An extraordinary lesson in dignity, as if it were whispered.” – Louis Marcorelles, Le Monde (France)
“A beautiful film, rigorous and free of pathos.” – Alfred Brochard, Le Soir (Belgium)
The National Center For Jewish Film
Brandeis University, Lown 102, MS053, Waltham MA 02454
P: (781) 899 7044, F: (781) 736 2070
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