The film was written and directed by Dr. David Serrano Blanquer, a tenured professor at the Blanquerna School of Communication at Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, and founder and director of the Center for Research on European Concentration Camp Literature (CILEC). It was co-produced by the Blanquerna School of Communication at Ramon Llull University in Barcelona and Universidad ORT Uruguay.
Students and graduates from the School of Communication and Design participated in the documentary.
Director of Photography: Martín Viarengo, graduate of the Bachelor’s Degree in Audiovisual Communication.
On-location sound: Gino Maiuri and Santiago Monteverdi, graduates of the Technical Program in Sound Design.
Digi-loader: Santiago Albano, student in the Bachelor’s Degree in Audiovisual Communication.
It tells the story of Giza Alterwajn, born in 1940 in the Warsaw Ghetto, from which she was smuggled out hidden in a suitcase before she turned one year old. She survived the war in the home of a Polish Christian family and, after the war ended, arrived in Uruguay with her biological aunt and uncle. After 65 years without contact, Giza and her adoptive sister, Danusia Galkowa, were reunited in Poland.
The documentary’s world premiere took place on Sunday, February 2, 2014, as part of the festival’s ORT Space.
Prior to the premiere, and as the opening event of the ORT Space, the 11th Punta del Este Jewish Film Festival honored the general director of ORT Uruguay and member of the festival’s Honorary Committee since its first edition, Prof. Charlotte S. de Grünberg, with the presentation of a plaque of recognition by the Maldonado Departmental Government.
Present at the premiere screening were Dr. Serrano Blanquer, David Telias, coordinator of the Universidad ORT Uruguay of Jewish Studies at Universidad ORT Uruguay in charge of production management and location scouting in Uruguay for the documentary, and the film’s protagonist, Giza Alterwajn de Goldfarb, who introduced the film.
Also present were the other members of the production team in Spain, consisting of Jaume Benet, director; Silvia Morón, script collaborator and head of research—both professors at the Blanquerna School of Communication at Ramon Llull University; and musician Jaume Pedrós, responsible for the musical composition and production.
Following the conclusion of the festival, which awards prizes to the featured productions based on the audience’s vote, Giza, the Girl in the Suitcasewas chosen as the best film of the festival.
Also during the festival, among other events, a condensed version of the documentary Jews in Harbin was screened. This production by the Heilongjiang Television Channel of China’s Heilongjiang Province focuses on Jewish immigration to the city of Harbin between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was presented by a group of students from the international exchange program between Harbin Normal University, China, and Universidad ORT Uruguay, who were also responsible for subtitling the documentary in Spanish.
The complete program for the ORT Space was as follows:
Sunday, February 2
– Exhibition of audiovisual productions by students and faculty of the School of Communication and Design.
What We Love, We Fear – A medium-length film composed of short films by Ignazio Acerenza, Valentina Baracco, and Inés Lage, with an introduction by Carolina Campo, a faculty member, and Gerardo Castelli, Academic Coordinator of Audiovisual Studies.
The Dinner, directed by Mariana Franco.
More Than Jealousy, directed by Gonzalo Díaz.
Uruguayan Spirit, directed by Felipe Bravo.
– Giza, the Girl in the Suitcase – World Premiere.
Monday, February 3
- Lecture: “Hannah Arendt and the Banality of the Shoah” by Gustavo Perednik (the film “Hannah Arendt” is included in the festival program and will be screened following the lecture).
Perednik is a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (cum laude). He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from New York University. He studied the humanities at the Sorbonne (France), San Marcos (Peru), and Uppsala (Sweden). He was recognized as an outstanding professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Tuesday, February 4
– Exhibition of the winning entries from the 7th International Digital Animation Festival – FIA ’13, organized by the School of Communication and Design at Universidad ORT Uruguay, as well as student animation projects.
Short film: Entrance Exam
Director: Boqing Tang - China
Short film: SuperSeba
Producer: Wanako - Uruguay
Short film: Electric Soul
Director: Joni Mnnist - Finland
Short film: Videophonic 2013
Director: Ariel Costa Blinkmybrain - United States
Student Projects in Digital Animation
Short film: Field trip
Director: Rodrigo Moles
Short film: Delivery
Director: Didier Surka
Short film: Mr. Watts
Director: Ruben Rosenzweigh
Short film: Illusion
Director: Georgine Herbig
– Jews in Harbin – Documentary.
A selection of scenes from a production by Heilongjiang TV Station in Heilongjiang Province (China), produced by the Department of Jewish Studies at Universidad ORT Uruguay collaboration with students and faculty from the Joint Program Universidad ORT Uruguay Harbin Normal University.
Following the screening, students from the Joint Program Universidad ORT Uruguay Harbin Normal University gave a brief presentation on the current state of relations between China, the Jewish people, and the State of Israel.
- Lecture: “World War I in Jewish History: A Century After Its Outbreak,” presented by Gustavo Perednik.
Wednesday, February 5
- Book presentation Isaac Borojovich and the Uruguayan Memory of the Holocaust, by Dr. Serrano Blanquer (Trilce, Montevideo, 2013), presented by the author, Mr. Telias, and the book’s subject, Shoah survivor Isaac Borojovich.
Video interview with Dr. Miguel Cherro, author of the book *Giza, the Girl in the Suitcase*