Recently I received an email from Frank Shields an old friend I met about 50 years ago. At that time Frank was trying to make a film about Australian soldiers who participated in the Boer War. As luck would have it I was selected to be the sound recordist for some of the interviews which Frank conducted with these fellows who were in their nineties. Then Frank and I met again via Facebook about three years ago, when he told me he was trying to get up another film project which he has recenlty completed: "Remember Belsen".
Frank is unstoppable! Not even Covid and the long periods of the lockdowns could prevent him from making this film. He sent me these notes which were prepared by Carmela Baranowska, a fine young woman whom I taught about 25 years ago when she was a doco student at VCA.
Writer/Director/Producer Frank Shields: A window into the Holocaust...What should we remember? Or, What does Remember Belsen mean? On viewing there will be no doubt about the answer to either question. Will the viewer compare Belsen with Rwanda, Cambodia or even Ukraine. This film will spark debate.' The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival
From Frank:
I did an interview with Paul Harris for his Filmbuff podcast and one of the audience at the Sydney Film Museum who did translation work on James Dean Le Sueur’s award winning film, “The Art of Dissent” wrote a testimonial:
"So amazed to have unexpectedly met director Frank Shields & some survivor protagonists at Sydney's premiere of Remember Belsen - a moving homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s long-buried film F3080, whose footage of the camp's liberation was considered to be too horrific for the post-war healing public to see. Now that it has been sensitively reworked, however, including vignettes from Australian author Nadia Wheatley & war artist Alan Moore, it should now be a permanent testament to that human experience of world significance. Originally pitched at 75 minutes, its 110 minute screening does not falter. Alena Jirasek, Czlink,Translator Services.
To give you some clarity, I have attached the synopsis which explains Hitchcock’s participation. Here is the TRAILER for my film:
Good news is, you can see my film without leaving your living room, for my film is not showing at MIFF but online at MDFF until end of July.
Open link, go to Australian documentary line and scroll to Remember Belsen.
If you have any problems with links please let know. Thanks for spreading the news.
Frank
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