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Emigré to U.S. Documents Extraordinary Russian Lives
Reuters, June 25, 2010 Semyon Pinkhasov, an emigre to the United States at the height of the Cold War has made documentary films about prominent Soviet-era artisans and sport figures, who not only survived but thrived during communism's repressive rule. Hidden Tales from 1936 Mondo Mark, April 25, 2010 'What if?: The Helene Mayer Story' begs a question whose answer can only be hypothetical: Had Mayer refused, would the Olympics have occurred, or would her refutation of participating for the Nazis have been a major humiliation on the international stage? Review: What If? The Helen Mayer Story (2009) KQEK, 2010 Gathering a solid body of interview subjects for his film – including Helene Mayer’s sister-in-law – Pinkhasov worms through several of the key conflicts in his subject’s life, and the film becomes less of an investigative doc about whether the refusal to participate would’ve shamed the Nazi regime and cancelled the famous Berlin Olympics, but rather a chronicle of Helen’s athletic rise growing up in an apolitical and apparently irreligious family environment. |
Best Screenplay: «What If? The Helene Mayer Story»
International Festival of Sport Films Krasnogorski, Russia, 2009 Official Selection: «What If? The Helene Mayer Story» 18th Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2010 Official Selection: «What If? The Helene Mayer Story» 27th Milano International FICTS (Sports Movies & TV) Festival Milan, Italy, 2009 Official Selection: «What If? The Helene Mayer Story» Santa Fe Film Festival Santa Fe, USA, 2008-2009 Official Selection: « I am not Giordano Bruno » Festival de Cine de Granada Granada, Spain, 2007 |