The journalist and film critic Jorge Jellinek spoke.
The film was written and directed by Dr. David Serrano Blanquer, Full Professor at the Blanquerna School of Communication at Ramon Llull University and founder and director of CILEC (Center for Research on European Concentration Camp Literature).
Students and graduates from the School of Communication and Design at Universidad ORT Uruguay participated in the documentary:
Director of Photography: Martín Viarengo, a graduate of the Bachelor’s program in Audiovisual Communication.
Live sound: Gino Maiuri and Santiago Monteverdi, graduates of the Sound Design Technician program.
Digi-loader: Santiago Albano, a student in the Bachelor's program in Audiovisual Communication.
The film 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. She survived the war while living with a Polish Christian family, and after the war ended, she moved to Uruguay with her biological aunt and uncle. After 65 years without contact, Giza and her adoptive sister, Danusia Galkowa, were reunited in Poland.
The film’s world premiere took place on February 2, 2014, as part of the ORT Space at the 11th Punta del Este Jewish Film Festival, which was held from February 1 to 5, 2014, at the Conrad Hotel. At the conclusion of the event, which awards prizes to the films screened based on the audience’s vote, “Giza, the Girl in the Suitcase” was chosen as the best film of the festival (View article).
More than 150 people attended the premiere in Montevideo, exceeding the organizers' expectations. At the end of the event, the general director, Prof. Charlotte de Grúnberg, presented Giza with a copy of the book *Octavio Podestá* as a memento of the occasion.