REVIEWS
THE OCCUPATION
A SURPRISINGLY HONEST, COMPELLING AND WELL ACTED WWII SURVIVOR’S TALE
Director: Steven Oritt Starring: Zuzanna Surowy, Michalina Olszanska, Eryk Lubos Distributor: Lightbulb Film Distribution Released: 30 March
The Occupation (2019) is based on the story of Holocaust survivor, Sara Goralnik (1930-2018). In 1942, having escaped from the small Jewish ghetto in Korets, Polish youngster Sara (Zuzanna Surowy) and her brother, Moishe (Conrad Cichon), are cut adrift in the countryside, Nazis on their tail. When the children are forced to go their separate ways, Sara finds herself all alone in a nightmarish world. Passing herself off as a Christian girl, she meets a farmer who puts her in contact with his younger brother. The man warily agrees to take on Sara as a maid and nanny. She spends the war in servitude, living in constant fear of her grumpy employer, marauding SS units and bullying partisans.
Steven Orrit’s directorial debut, made in association with the USC Shoah Foundation, founded by
