Film Screening: “Return to Auschwitz” with Julie Canepa
November 17 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Adirondack Center for Writing (15 Broadway, Saranac Lake)
$10
Join us for a screening of Return to Auschwitz: The Survival of Vladimir Munk, and a talk back with co-producer and co-writer of the film, Julie Canepa. Canepa is also the author of the novel The Missing Star, which is based off Vladimir Munk’s story.
Julie Canepa is a co-author of the Regional Emmy® Award winning documentary Return to Auschwitz: The Survival of Vladimir Munk. The documentary was filmed in 2020 when Julie accompanied Czech Holocaust survivor Vladimir Munk to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in Oświęcim, Poland. Julie wrote Vladimir’s Story, which chronicled Munk’s life from birth to his liberation from the Nazis, for The Sun Community News.
Canepa’s novel, The Missing Star, is based on the life of Vladimir Munk and Kitty Löwi. The book chronicles Vladimir and Kitty’s lives as children growing up under German occupation, their deportation to the Terezin ghetto, where they met and fell in love. When Vladimir is sent to Auschwitz, and Kitty remains behind in Terezin, they promise to meet after the war in a less complicated world. Julie is a Culinary Institute of America-trained pastry chef, having owned and operated several bakeries in New York’s Hudson Valley. For many years, she was the lead singer in the regional band Oh!Betty. Julie currently resides in the Adirondacks with her family.
Return to Auschwitz: The Survival of Vladimir Munk is the moving story of Czech Holocaust survivor and retired SUNY Plattsburgh professor Vladimir Munk. The film follows Vladimir, now 95, as he returns to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, the camp where he was held prisoner during World War II. This will be his last chance to honor thirty of his close relatives, including his parents, who perished there. Accompanied by his dear friend, the trip from his home in the United States will be filled with painful memories and unforeseen hardships but it is a journey he knows he must take. The challenges continue upon his return when Covid-19, the isolation of lockdown and serious heart problems threaten the health and well being of this true survivor.
