View the film, FOUR WINTERS before its official release and join a discussion afterward between Julia R. Mintz, the film's writer/director/producer and Carin Savel, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation for Jewish Philanthropy of Upper Fairfield County.
Deep within the forests of World War II Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and the Ukraine, more than 25,000 Jews fought back against the Nazis and their collaborators. Many of these Jewish Partisans had witnessed the murders of their families and friends before escaping into the forest. Often based in mere holes in the ground and armed with whatever weapons they could build, trade or steal, Jewish men and women organized and fought, against the better-trained and better-equipped war machine that Hitler was rolling across Eastern Europe. The Jewish Partisans executed tactical missions including blowing up trains, bridges, police stations, and telegraph lines. They carried out dangerous assignments, whenever possible carrying two grenades, one for their target and one for themselves in case of capture. By 1944, Jewish Partisan vigilance had made the forests so dangerous that Nazi soldiers were afraid to enter. This film includes interviews with the last living Partisans and shares personal letters, journals, rare film footage and other artifacts to illuminate the many ways Jews resisted the Nazis.
"I set out to make this film in search of an answer to my long-lasting childhood question: “Why didn’t the Jews fight back?” What I discovered, through the survivors’ searing memories, were riveting stories of courageous and inspiring resistance – a chapter in our collective history about the Jewish Partisans that needed to be told.” Julia Mintz, Director FOUR WINTERS
Please register for a seat at the screening.
World Festival Premiere at Lincoln Center, New York Jewish Film Festival, Winner of Best Documentary, David A. Stein Award at Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Featured as the “Centerpiece Documentary” at the Washington DC JxJ, Featured as the “Centerpiece Documentary” at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Tied for Audience Award at Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival, invited for a theatrical run at the Film Forum in NYC, Invited for a theatrical run at the Laemmle Theater in LA, Awarded Stephen Spielberg’s Jewish Story Partners Grant 2022
Community Partner: Federation for Jewish Philanthropy of Upper Fairfield County
Julia Mintz is a writer, producer and director whose work focuses on narratives of bravery and resistance against unimaginable odds. She has been on the producing team for films that have been shortlisted for the Academy Awards, have premiered at Cannes, Sundance and TriBeCa, and won Emmy, Peabody and festival awards. Her films can be seen on HBO, PBS, American Masters, NETFLIX and Amazon. Mintz has worked on many of the country’s most celebrated documentary films. Recent projects include Mr. SOUL!, which premiered at TriBeCa and was short-listed for an Academy Award®. She co-produced Joe Papp in Five Acts and post-produced Get Me Roger Stone, both premiered at TriBeCa. Mintz produced the Emmy-nominated California State of Mind, and post-produced Soundtrack for a Revolution, short-listed for an Academy Award® Best Documentary, premiered at Cannes, nominated for Writers Guild; Nanking, short-listed for Academy Award® which won Peabody®, Emmy®, and Editorial Award at Sundance; and Love Free or Die: Story of Bishop Gene Robinson, winner Sundance Jurors Choice. Additional projects include Muscle Shoals, premiered Sundance; Equity, premiered Sundance; Bing Crosby Rediscovered; Life and Times of Frida Kahlo, Emmy® nominee; and Cyndi Lauper: Still So Unusual. Julia has also produced programming for Discovery, NASA, National Geographic, NHK and SONY. FOUR WINTERS is slated for theatrical release in Fall 2022.
Carin Savel is the Chief Executive Officer of the Federation for Jewish Philanthropy of Upper Fairfield County. Carin recently completed service as the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, where she led the organization’s fundraising, program initiatives and community outreach. Carin mentored a dedicated team that highlighted Federation’s relevancy and visibility, increased revenue, improved outreach efforts, and created meaningful collaborations, before and throughout the pandemic. A strong advocate for women’s philanthropy and meaningful community impact, Carin combines creative intelligence, a broad sense of changing social and economic environments with effective communication skills.
