Directed by: Joël Santoni, 2009
Screenplay, adaptation and dialogue: José-Alain Fralon, Jean-Carol Larrive and Joël Santoni
Original idea: Martine Chicot
Music: Serge Franklin
With: Bernard Le Coq (Aristides de Sousa Mendes / Cesar de Sousa Mendes), Roger Sousa (Seabra), Nanou Garcia (Angelina de Sousa Mendes), Frédéric Quiring (Rabbi Kruger), Emilie-Scarlett Moget (Andrée Cibial), Lionel Lingelser (Pedro Nuno de Sousa Mendes), Paolo Matos (Salazar) and Frédéric Kneip (Pesao)
For public performance rights or other distribution questions, contact Robert Jacobvitz.
The Consul, plunged into a moral crisis, takes to his bed for three days. Should he disobey, and thus jeopardize his career and the safety of his family? When he emerges from his room his hair has turned white. But his face is calm as he announces his decision: he will issue visas to anyone who asks!
Sousa Mendes mobilizes the last few people remaining at the consulate to prepare visas night and day, signing thousands of passports. Pursued by the secret police, he continues to aid refugees at the Spanish border. It is estimated that he granted visas to as many as 30,000 people, 10,000 of them Jews.
He is recalled to Lisbon, and punished for his disobedience. After the war, he dies in poverty and disgrace.
This remarkable true story has been described by historians as ‘the largest rescue action by a single individual during the Holocaust.’
Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Consul of Bordeaux…
Writing
Cast
Crew
For distribution in North America contact:
Sousa Mendes Foundation
PO Box 4065
Huntington, NY 11743
USA
info@sousamendesfoundation.org
877-797-9759
For distribution in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America contact:
Panama Productions
144 bis, rue du Chemin Vert
75011 Paris
France
contact@panamaproductions.fr
+33 1 48 06 25 21