Review of Steal a Pencil for Me (2007) by Abu S — 01 Feb 2008

(originally written after a screnning at SXSW 2007).

One of the best documentaries ever made - period.

We had the privilege of seeing this amazing documentary with the subjects of the film in attendance -also seeing it for the first time.

This is a fresh look at the Holocaust wrapped around a timeless love story that will leave you in tears of both varieties. I'll steal the synopsis straight from the film's website:

1943; Holland is under total Nazi occupation. In Amsterdam, Jack, an unassuming accountant, first meets Ina at a birthday party â?? a 20 year old beauty from a wealthy diamond manufacturing family who instantly steals his heart. But Jack's pursuit of love will be complicated; he is poor and married to Manja, a flirtatious and mercurial spouse.

When the Jews are being deported, the husband, the wife and the lover find themselves at the same concentration camp; actually living in the same barracks. When Jack's wife objects to the "girlfriend" in spite of their unhappy marriage, Jack and Ina resort to writing secret love letters, which sustain them throughout the horrible circumstances of the war.

Jack: "I'm a very special Holocaust survivor.

I was in the camps with my wife and my girlfriend;.

And believe me, it wasn't easy.".

Jack and Ina both got up and spoke afterward and at 90+ years, the man is still as charming as ever and she is still as beautiful - you'd never think you'd ever seen two people more meant for each other body and soul.

Keep an eye out for this one if it plays locally or when it hits cable - and it will - and get out the Kleenex cause you'll need it.