Donald M. Ephraim Film Festival: They Played For Their Lives

Description

Music is a universal language, encompassing the power to express what cannot be told in words. More than a tool of expression; music can also serve as an escape or a survival method. Under Nazi rule, some survivors found solace and survival in the power of music, secretly composing and playing it in concentration camps and ghettos. Through intimate interviews and live performances, the documentary artfully portrays how music saved the lives of young musicians. Following the personal narratives of eight survivors, each of the stories illustrates the power of music to sustain the soul. After the war, the lives of these eight survivors unfold in different and surprising ways. Yet music remains at the core of their memory.