My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes
| My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes | |
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| Directed by | Oren Jacoby |
| Produced by | Oren Jacoby |
| Written by | Oren Jacoby |
| Narrated by | Isabella Rossellini, Robert Loggia |
| Cinematography | Gerardo Gossi, Robert Richman |
| Edited by | Deborah Peretz |
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Production
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Storyville Films
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Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes is a 2014 documentary film, directed and written by Oren Jacoby, that tells the story of the rescue of thousands of Italian Jews during World War II by ordinary and prominent Italians, including the champion cyclist Gino Bartali. The film had its U.S. premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival in October 2014, and opened at theaters in Los Angeles and New York in March 2015.
The film tells its story by relating the accounts of Jewish survivors "who return to Italy in their late adulthood to revisit the scenes of their worst nightmares: hidden in terror, fleeing in desperation, separated from loved ones, saying final goodbyes without knowing they were final."
The film, narrated by Isabella Rossellini, includes dramatic reenactments in addition to interviews with survivors and relatives of the rescuers. It describes how many Italians, including Roman Catholic priests, risked their lives to hide Jews from Nazi troops after the German occupation of Italy in 1943. Among them was Bartali, whose words are spoken in a voiceover by actor Robert Loggia.
Bartali is shown in archival footage and reenactments, and his son Andrea is interviewed. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini viewed the champion cyclist as a paragon of Fascist values, who proved Italians were part of the "master race." But Bartali rejected Fascism and opposed its anti-Semitic policies. During the war, he traveled throughout Italy on his bicycle while pretending to train for competitions, delivering documents for hidden Jews. He did so at the behest of the Archbishop of Florence, where he lived. Bartali never spoke of his wartime exploits after the war, not even to his family, and only did so late in life. Bartali risked his own life and the life of his family by his activities. In 2013, Bartali was recognized as a "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem for his efforts to aid Jews during World War II.
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Wikipedia