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Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Joe's Violin (2016)

This is the feel good entry into the short documentary film finals.  It is my Valentine's Day choice.  The feel good movie for this category, which is otherwise populated with stories of Syria.  Really good stories about Syria, mind you, and important things to think about but not the stuff of romance. 
Joe was born in Western Poland in 1923.  He played the violin and his mother sang along with him as a boy.  He loved music, but when the Nazi's invaded Poland when he was 16 years old, he left the violin behind and moved to Western Poland, and was exiled to a work camp in Siberia for the rest of the war.  Luckily he survived, and while he was in a relocation camp in Germany after the war, he bought the violin he would have for the rest of his life.  He played it often after that, but as he crept up into his 90's, the violin laid idle.  So when the New York City schools asked for people to donate their unused instruments so that students who could not afford them could use them, he gave up his violin.  He also gave up it's story with it, and the movie is about the girl who gets his violin.  Bring a tissue, it is heartwarming.  So try to see a little good in the world today and enjoy your loved ones.

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