Ken Burns, Co-Director and Executive Producer. Ken Burns has been making films for more than thirty years. Since the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Ken has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. A December 2002 poll conducted by Real Screen Magazine listed The Civil War as second only to Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North as the “most influential documentary of all time,” and named Ken Burns and Robert Flaherty as the “most influential documentary makers” of all time. In March, 2009, David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun said, “…Burns is not only the greatest documentarian of the day, but also the most influential filmmaker period. That includes feature filmmakers like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. I say that because Burns not only turned millions of persons onto history with his films, he showed us a new way of looking at our collective past and ourselves.” The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of his films, “More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source.” Ken’s films have won twelve Emmy Awards and two Oscar nominations, and in September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Artemis A.W. Joukowsky III, Co-Director and Co-Producer. Artemis A.W. Joukowsky, III, M.A. has acted as an environmental venture capitalist, entrepreneur, non-profit activist and film producer for the past 20 years in his professional life. Most recently, Mr. Joukowsky served as Executive Producer of the HBO film, Cries From Syria, a harrowing exploration of the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the devastating civil war that has defined the country over the last five years. He is a PBS Producer and Co-director with Ken Burns of Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War, a 90-minute a documentary film and book about Waitstill and Martha Sharp, who played a role in the relief and rescue of displaced and endangered World War II refugees, including many Jews, in 1939 in Prague and 1940 in Southern France. The film and companion book, published by Beacon Press, were co-released in September 2016 to critical success. He is also the co-developer of the education curriculum with Facing History and Ourselves, Brookline, MA. http://www.facinghistory.org/two-who-dared which reaches over 2 million students in 50,000 schools worldwide. He is the organizer of the strategic alliances of the project, including over 20 leading Holocaust and education organizations worldwide with a vision to promote more rescue today. http://www.pbs.org/show/defying-nazis-sharps-war/ Artemis Joukowsky, the grandson of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, has spent decades researching his grandparents' story and connecting that story to the current refugee crisis. The PBS broadcast attracted over 1.1 billion impressions on social media and an audience of over 3.5 million viewers! .
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Matthew Justus, Producer of the film, is an Emmy-nominated documentary and commercial filmmaker based in San Francisco. Over the past decade he worked on productions for HBO, PBS, the BBC, ZDF, The History Channel, IFC and film festivals around the world. He had a producer role on two projects which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He produced the 2012 Emmy nominated feature documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World (Sundance, HBO, BBC, 2011) which also won a UK Grierson Award (Best Cinema Documentary). Previously, he was an associate producer on Liz Garbus' film Shouting Fire Stories From the Edge of Free Speech Sundance, HBO, 2009). He was also an associate producer on Coma (HBO) and Rory Kennedy's Thank You Mr. President (HBO). He was also on the production team of Kennedy’s Ghosts of Abu Ghraib Sundance, HBO, Emmy Award Winner).
Michael Peyser, Co-Executive Producer, is an accomplished producer of both major studio movies as well as cutting-edge independent films. Most recently he was executive producer of Woody Allen: A Documentary, which PBS/American Masters released and debuted in a theatrical version as an Official Selection of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Previously Peyser executive produced the groundbreaking U23D, which was the sensation of both the 2007 Cannes and 2008 Sundance Film Festivals. Peyser’s extensive credits encompass a wide range of commercially and critically successful films, including: Ruthless People (Bette Midler, Danny DeVito), Big Business (Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin), Hackers (Angelina Jolie), Desperately Seeking Susan (Madonna), & the children’s classic Matilda (directed by Danny DeVito) as well as the Sundance cult classics Haiku Tunnel and SLC Punk. He supervised production on several Woody Allen films including Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, and Purple Rose of Cairo, and the hit comedy Arthur. In addition to his producing credits, Peyser was the founding Senior Vice-President of Hollywood Pictures at The Walt Disney Studios. He is a tenured professor at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he teaches all aspects of producing & the filmmaking enterprise.
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Tom Hanks, Voice of Waitstill Sharp. Tom Hanks is one of the most respected and prolific actors in the world, the recipient of two Academy Awards for Best Actor, he previously collaborated with Ken Burns on The War (2007). He is known for his roles in Big (1988), Philadelphia (1993), Forrest Gump (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan, You've Got Mail (both 1998), The Green Mile (1999), Cast Away (2000),The Da Vinci Code (2006), Captain Phillips, and Saving Mr. Banks (both 2013), as well as for his voice work in the animated films The Polar Express (2004) and the Toy Story series. Hanks has been nominated for numerous awards during his career. He won a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Philadelphia, as well as a Golden Globe, an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a People's Choice Award for Best Actor for his role in Forrest Gump. In 2004, he received the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Hanks is also known for his collaboration with film director Steven Spielberg on Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Terminal (2004), and Bridge of Spies (2015), as well as the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers, which launched Hanks as a successful director, producer, and writer. In 2010, Spielberg and Hanks were executive producers on the HBO miniseries The Pacific (a companion piece to Band of Brothers).
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Marina Goldman, Voice of Martha Sharp. Marina Goldman is an actress, heath care provider and global activist. She has toured with ensembles and worked in immersive theater where she had the opportunity to play Carla DelPonte, Emily Dickinson, Ann Sexton, Grace O’Malley, Maude Gonne, Olga Checkov and Israelite heroine Judith. She has previously worked on PBS documentaries with Robert Kenner; War Letters (2001) and John Brown’s Holy War (2000). She co-produced Bridge of Names (2012) and appeared in Anniversary (2014). In 2015, she created the Foundation for Rescuers, inspired by Martha Sharp’s story of personal courage. The foundation has provided a platform for combining her work in film and theater with global health care and women’s rights. Working with Ken Burns has been a highlight of her career.
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Erik Angra, Editor, is a filmmaker best known for his commercial & documentary work with AT&T, Coca Cola and PBS. His work has also appeared on NBC, Animal Planet & A&E. He grew up in the hills of New Hampshire, graduating from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, later interning in New York City production houses. He began his career touring alongside hardcore punk musicians across the US, releasing the footage in 2006, featuring rare performances from some of the last shows at the infamous CBGBs in New York. He has an affinity for cinéma vérité and is also known for his unconventional use of digital cameras, often times shooting with antique lenses.
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Sheldon Mirowitz, the Composer, has been nominated three times for an Emmy Award for best music, most recently for the score to the A&E movie The Nazi Officer’s Wife. His credits include the score to the Miramax comedy Outside Providence (written and produced by Michael Corrente and the Farrelly Brothers), the score to the four-hour Hallmark mini-series, Johnson County War (written and produced by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, starring Tom Berenger), and the score to the Oscar-nominated Troublesome Creek, winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival (soundtrack available on Daring/Rounder Records). He has written theme music for networks ranging from MTV to The History Channel, and has scored hundreds of radio and television commercials, including award-winning work for such clients as Converse, Kodak, UPS, Reebok and AT&T. In addition to this work, Sheldon also serves on the faculty at Berklee College of Music, where he is a Professor in the Film Scoring department.
Jocelyn Adelman Vorenberg created music for the film. She is a member of the Richmond Symphony since 2003 and previously served as concertmistress of the Frederick Symphony Orchestra of Maryland. In spring of 2010, she completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Catholic University of America. In previous years, Dr. Vorenberg performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera and Chorus Orchestras, Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, and the Virginia Chamber Orchestra. Festival appearances include Aspen, Tanglewood (two year fellowship participant), Music from Angel Fire, and the Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourse in Israel. As a violinist of the Hestia Quartet, she was invited to play for the Vice President in 2001, where they received rave reviews in the Washington Post. This success led to a series of concerts presented by Dr. Vorenberg at the Vice President’s residence. She has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University, Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Program, and the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. Presently, she teaches privately in Richmond, Virginia.
Walter Strauss created music for the film. He is a composer whose studies and works incorporate both western and non-western elements. Walter has engaged in cross-cultural collaborations in the US, Europe and Africa with artists from rich musical traditions, like the djeli of West Africa and traditional Scottish fiddlers. His work has included collaborations with such diverse musicians as Grammy-winning Malian kora player Mamadou Diabaté, the Wintun Native American tribe, Scottish fiddler Jonny Hardie, and Grammy-nominated guitarist Alex de Grassi. He has performed internationally at venues like Kennedy Center, the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, and Le Diplomate in Bamako, Mali. “Reckoning”, his piece written to accompany the film’s collage of the US war years, is a portrayal of both the horrors of which humanity is capable and the resilience of the human spirit to overcome such base instincts. Walter works and produces out of his studio in Sebastopol, CA.
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Emma Blaxter is the Associate Producer of the film and the great-granddaughter of the Sharps. She has been an international activist and devoted humanitarian since graduating from Mills College in 2009. As a new filmmaker she is passionate about creating media that inspires others and brings awareness to social issues in order to create change. She sees the legacy of the Sharps as a powerful reminder of the potential we all have to make a positive and tangible difference in the world.
Natasha Joukowsky is Associate Producer of the film. She is the great-grandaughter of the Sharps and completed extensive primary source research for Defying the Nazis: the Sharps' War. Natasha collected and analyzed the personal journals of Martha Sharp and found scores of material included in the film.
David Blistein is a writer and former advertising agency executive whose writing is the culmination of a lifelong pursuit of wisdom, transcendence, and humor. He is the author of David’s Inferno: My Journey through the Dark Wood of Depression and served as a writer on the three-part PBS documentary The Emperor of All Maladies. He is currently working on the script for a forthcoming documentary about the Mayo Clinic, as well as one based on The Gene: An Intimate History, a new book by the Pulitizer Prize-winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee. Mr Blistein is also writing This Is Your Brain on Drugs, a reality-based book for adolescents about neuropsychology, mental health diagnoses, and mind-altering substances from sugar to heroin—inspired in part by his longtime work as a Guardian ad Litem in the Vermont Juvenile Court System. Academy Award winning filmmaker Deborah Shaffer began making social issue documentaries in the 70’s as a member of Newsreel. She co-founded Pandora Films, one of the first all woman film companies. Her documentary THE WOBBLIES premiered at NYFF in 1979. During the 80’s Shaffer focused on human rights in the Americas, including WITNESS TO WAR: DR CHARLIE CLEMENTS, (Academy Award), and FIRE FROM THE MOUNTAIN and DANCE OF HOPE (Sundance). Post 9/11 Shaffer directed FROM THE ASHES: 10 ARTISTS followed by FROM THE ASHES: EPILOGUE (Sundance, Tribeca). She is Executive Producer of Oscar-nominated short ASYLUM, and directed numerous public television programs on women in the arts. She was the Producer and Writer of Emmy award winning LADIES FIRST:THE WOMEN OF RWANDA. She Co-Directed and Co-Produced TO BE HEARD, winner of many festival awards, and recently was Executive Producer of Emmy award winning feature documentary VERY SEMI SERIOUS. Shaffer is currently in production on a short about artist Audrey Flack.
Michael Julian Berz was born in Ontario and grew up in Germany and Austria, where he studied journalism and political science at the University of Vienna. In 2001, he became a correspondent for ORF, Austrian television, reporting and filming arts and culture programs from New York City. Berz began documenting the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center Towers within hours of the event. He worked with filmmaker Deborah Shaffer filming From The Ashes–Ten Artists and filming and co-directing From The Ashes–Epilogue, profiles of ten downtown artists and their experiences on September 11 and the following months. The films were presented in America and Europe, including Sundance, Global Peace, Diagonale, and the Tribeca Film Festivals. HBO/Cinemax broadcast From The Ashes–Ten Artists in the U.S. Berz filmed numerous independent documentaries, including the multi-Festival award winning TO BE HEARD; TWO VILLAGES OF KOSOVO, JORGE’S NINE LIVES, IN BED WITH ULYSSES, just released SINGERS IN THE BAND and currently in production MADAME TRAN’S LAST BATTLE. From 2010 to 2015 he continued filming documentaries & fiction shorts, as well as developing an extensive body of work as a still photographer of dance & dancers.
Michael Joukowsky is a seasoned entrepreneur in the business and investment world. He is also CEO and President of Crawford High-Performance Composites Ltd. as well as the CEO of a private investment firm, specializing in domestic and international value oriented investments. In addition, Mr. Joukowsky is a General Partner in the SSP Real Asset GP, LLC and SSP Private Equity GP, LLC. During his career, Mr. Joukowsky has founded and managed several private investment companies involved in acquisitions and mergers, real estate and mortgage acquisition, as well as a private family investment and advisory firm. A graduate of Brown University, Mr. Joukowsky has served as a member of its Adjunct Faculty’s Engineering Department for the past 27 years and currently teaches a section of Engineering 9. He has also been part of the President’s Leadership Council since its inception in 2004 and co-founded the Entrepreneurship Forum which led to the development of the Initiative for Entrepreneurship and Organizational Studies. He currently serves as co-chair of the program’s fundraising committee.
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Academic Scholars
Jeffry Diefendorf, Ph.D., has taught for decades at the University of New Hampshire. He has been an active scholar in several fields: modern German history, European and American urban history, and Holocaust history. He is the author or editor of 9 books, including In the Wake of War: The Reconstruction of German Cities after World War II , The Rebuilding of Europe’s Bombed Cities, Rebuilding Urban Japan after 1945, and Transnationalism and the German City and more than 50 journal articles and book chapters. Among the fellowships which have supported his research are ones from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 2004 he received the UNH Distinguished Professor award, and in 2007 he received the Pamela Shulman Professorship in European and Holocaust Studies in recognition of having initiated a drive to create an endowed fund for Holocaust education at UNH and also having taken the responsibility to organize regular Holocaust-related programs at UNH. These have included annual guest lectures by leading scholars and two exhibitions of paintings by Holocaust survivor Samuel Bak.
Debórah Dwork, Ph.D., Rose Professor of Holocaust History, and Founding Director of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University, is a leading authority on university education in this field, as well as her area of scholarly expertise: Holocaust history. Recruited to Clark to build the institute she envisioned, Dwork grew the Strassler Center into a flourishing enterprise dedicated to research, teaching, and public service, now the international address for doctoral training in Holocaust History and Genocide Studies. One of the first historians to record Holocaust survivors' oral histories and to use their narratives as a scholarly source, Dwork explores the social and cultural history of the Holocaust. Among her award-winning books, Children With A Star introduced a child-centered approach to historical investigation; Flight from the Reich opened the geographic view of the Holocaust and integrated the refugee experience into its history; and Auschwitz drew the critically important connection between industrial killing and a society that believed it was involved in constructive activity. Dwork has been, inter alia, a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and a Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, and she now serves on the American delegation to the 31-state International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Sondra Perl is Director of the Holocaust Educators Network at the Memorial Library in Manhattan and Professor of English at Lehman College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. An acclaimed teacher, she is the author of six books and the recipient of both a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Carnegie Foundation’s Professor of the Year award. Perl’s desire to explore the difficult subject of the Holocaust began 20 years ago when she was invited to teach in Austria, a journey she chronicles in On Austrian Soil: Teaching Those I Was Taught to Hate. Ever since, she has been involved in post-Holocaust dialogue with members of the second and third generations in the United States and in Europe. For more info about the Holocaust Educators Network, go to www.thememoriallibrary.org.
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