LEA & DARIJA

today i saw the most awesome film at the jewish film festival. the film was lea and darija  which is a historical fiction about the life of lea deutsch the croatian jewish shirley temple.  who's that you say? and if you are me you will say "there is a jewish community in croatia? " well.there still is a small jewish community in croatia and there was a much larger one before world war two .
lea deutsch was a famous tap dancer from croatia who travelled all over europe acting and dancing from the age of five. she was forced to stop dancing in 1941 when croatia was taken over by the nazis . many tried to help her and her family to no avail. she died in transit to auchswitz in 1943. only her father survived the war.
darija was a croatian german girl who danced with lea. she survived the war. she and her family fled croatia when the nazis took over croatia.
the filmmaker branko ivanda is the son of a  croatian partisan whose father survived three years in a concentration camp. he came to make this film after joining some of his friends who are jewish in a jewish coffee house in croatia. in this coffee house there was a striking painting of lea deutsch . he was intrigued by her life story which inspired him to first compile a documentary and then a historical fiction film about her. he felt it important for people to remember her life. even now there are still those in croatia who fondly remember her. she was a shining star and beloved by all at the time.
when the film lea and darija premieres in croatia it will be screened in the theatre lea performed in.
it is incredible that branko ivanda has created this tribute to lea deutsch so her memory can live on.

p.s. i have included a clip from the documentary that was created by branko ivanda and not the film that i actually saw. i would like to eventually see the documentary, but i think that the historical fiction version is amazing. it really brings the story to life.