Suskind Film Update #5~ March 1, 2006

Goedemiddag! ~

Today is Tim’s 60th birthday (wow!) and it is a pleasure to be reporting on our wonderful trip to the Netherlands – hard to believe that we have already been home for over a week!

The trip was fabulous. Tim and I were able to visit many friends and we were treated to many delicious meals – we “ate our way across Holland”. We also met many new people who are supporting the film, both at the screening in Amsterdam and in our travels during the week.

The screening at de Uitkijk Theater was a full house – 150 people on a cold and snowy day. The film was warmly received and we enjoyed a coffee and cake reception at deBalie where we reconnected with many of the interviewees and their families and friends. The sentiment expressed most often was one of gratitude that the story has been told and preserved so that the children and grandchildren of those involved will be able to hold a piece of it for the future. This tells us that our original goal has been met, and we are most pleased.

We also had many discussions about possibilities for distribution and funding; we came home with a notebook full of contacts to follow-up on.

Piet Meerburg arranged two meetings for us: one with a gentleman who has offered us a contract for DVD retail sales in the Netherlands and another gentleman from Toronto who will represent the film to Canadian broadcast outlets. Very exciting!

Fred & Theresa van Vliet arranged a meeting for us at the Verzetsmuseum (resistance museum) in Friesland (a province in the north). The director there has given us great support in promoting the film among a group of museums in the Netherlands, working toward creating an educational project that might qualify for some funding from the Dutch government. Also very exciting!

And for our American friends – we found a great B&B in the southern part of Amsterdam – ask us before you go!

Our travels also included a short but very successful lay-over in London. Janet Langdon arranged a meeting for us at the London Jewish Cultural Center where we were warmly received. We had a great conversation about the possibility of a screening in London in the fall and we are very excited to be following-up on that. We were also given leads to other organizations in various parts of Europe. We then visited the Holocaust exhibit at the Imperial War Museum which is quite impressive. Special thanks to Janet who has taken us and the film under her wing in such a wonderful way!

So we are back in Marlborough, working hard to follow all of the wonderful leads we have been given. We have mapped a plan for the spring (Karen’s office is lined with poster boards filled with sticky notes!) and will pursue funding, marketing, distribution, broadcast, educational programs, community screenings and film festivals.

We continue to be heartened and supported by the wonderful responses we receive from far and near. Our “film family” continues to grow and we are most grateful to everyone.

Warm regards,

Karen & Tim