When Clara Greenspan left Montreal for Warsaw to visit relatives she could not have known how her personal destiny would soon become intertwined with the events about to unfold in Europe. While there, she was introduced to, and married a man named Chaim and was then mistakenly informed by the British Embassy that when she returned to Canada she could then send for her husband.What began as a whirlwind romance turned into a battle of endurance against her own government whose policy allowed Canadian men to bring over their foreign-born spouses, but forbade the same liberty to women.
Set in Canada, Poland, Russia and Germany between 1938 and 1947, My Dear Clara weaves love letters, personal diaries, family photographs, official correspondence and rarely-seen archival footage to tell the dramatic story of a Polish Jewish refugee’s struggle for survival and his Canadian wife’s unflinching dedication.
“...much more than history. It's an epic love story, so tangible that the two protagonists move the viewer to depths of emotion that don't usually mark documentaries.”
– The Canadian Jewish News, 2001.
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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