The Children of Chabannes (1999)

Directors:

Lisa Gossels
Dean Wetherell

Genre:

Documentary | War

Plot:

In the spirit of Louis Malle's "Au Revoir les Enfants" and Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List," the...

Plot Keywords:

Holocaust | Human Rights | Independent Film

Awards:

8 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Norbert Bikales	...	Himself / Child of Chabannes
Wolfie Blumenreich	...	Himself / Child of Chabannes
Rene Castille	...	Himself / Creuse Historian
Collette Dony-Pascal	...	Herself / Chabannes Resident
Jerry Gerard	...	Himself / Child of Chabannes
Lisa Gossels	...	Narrator
Peter Gossels	...	Himself / Child of Chabannes
Lydia Jablonski	...	Herself / Chevrier's Secretary
Ruth Keller	...	Herself / Child of Chabannes
Serge Klarsfeld	...	Himself / Historian
Yvonne Labrousse	...	Herself / Chabannes Resident
Georges Loinger	...	Himself / OSE Educator
Jean Michaud	...	Himself / Creuse Historian
Michele Nougier	...	Reine Paillassou (dramatic recreation actor)
Renee Paillassou	...	Herself / Teacher at Chabannes
Claude Pasty	...	Félix Chevrier (dramatic recreation actor)
Philippe Pétain	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Marechal Henri Philippe Pétain)
Rachel Pludermacher	...	Herself / OSE Educator
Frédéric Pottecher	...	Himself / Journalist
Ernest Rosner	...	Himself / Child of Chabannes

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Good Egg Productions

Quiet story of hope in the midst of danger

Gossels has constructed a simple, quiet telling of a profound story. Little kids are whisked into the countryside in the middle of a dangerous war, where no one speaks their language or practices their religion, where their parents can't visit, and probably won't see them again. But in this little village some remarkable people give them love, shelter, food and education, and save their lives. Instead of being exterminated by Hitler's monstrous machine of hate, they are nurtured like little seeds until they can one day live free again, once they have escaped or outlasted the war.

One incident stands out and illustrates the story: At one point, a group of twelve or so boys is taken away from Chabannes and efforts are made to get them back. Most of them survive, but four are murdered in camps. Amongst the magnitude of millions losing their lives, this town grieves for four boys. "It was four boys too many," they say. When that statement was made during the film, thunderbolts went off in my head.

This idea, multiplied thousands of times throughout Europe, was the reason so many were saved while others perished. It is why good shall always triumph over evil: He who saves a single life has saved the world entire.

And it is why, in our efforts to never repeat this tragedy, we also have a plan in case it does: resolve to do whatever we can, even a little, to save one or two lives.