15 July 2010
The Torch congratulates one of our artist’s Amadeo Marquez-Perez, on the successful launch of his new film ‘The Songs They Sang’ at the opening night of the Bayside Film Festival last night. Amedeo is currently working with The Torch as a Mentor on a film being produced in Shepperton and is assisting The Torch on a new community film project to be announced by the Victorian Minister for the Arts the Hon Peter Batchelor MP next Month. Watch this space for more details.
The Songs They Sang is an extraordinarily powerful film which focuses on the music and songs generated by the Jewish community forced into the Vilna Ghetto in Lithuania during the Second World War. Introduced last night by the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, the film details survivor accounts of the German occupation, and details the tragedy of the mass executions which occurred 10 kilometers away in the Ponary Forest. These same survivors discuss the important role of art and hope for communities.
This is an important film, with significant relevance to Melbourne audiences, given that Melbourne had the second largest number of immigrant survivors of The Holocaust. With this migration, Melbourne experienced an extraordinary Yiddish music boom in the 1950’s, and now houses a vast music archive at Monash University.
Director: Rohan Spong. Producers: Amadeo Marquez-Perez and Anna Monea
