The Holocaust in Film, Film #1: When Day Breaks

What do you do when you find out you’re not who you thought you were? For music professor Misha Brankov, who has just retired and now lives a largely solitary existence in a small town near Belgrade, the initial shock of this discovery will soon give way to a determination to fulfill the shattered dreams that he has inherited—an iron resolve that infuses him with new purpose and a second lease on his life. Shortly after his retirement, Misha Brankov is entrusted with a battered metal box that was excavated from a site where a Nazi death camp once stood during World War II. Investigating the documents the box contains, he makes a startling discovery: his real name is not Brankov, but Weiss. The son of Jewish musician Isaac Weiss, the infant Misha was entrusted to family friends the Brankovs just before the Weisses were taken into the camp, where Isaac buried the evidence of his son’s true identity. The box also contains another revelation, a discovery that will allow Misha to find closure in regard to his family’s unearthed past, and conclude in a fitting tribute to his father.

UAB Professor Dr. Andre Millard will introduce each evening’s film and lead a discussion afterward.