Remembering: The Maurits Kiek Story Screened in Indonesian Cinema

August 16, 2019 - "Herinneren: Het verhaal van Maurits Kiek…Remembering: The Maurits Kiek Story" received its Indonesian censor approval and made its Asian screening premiere at the Planet Hollywood XXI, Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 9th, 2019. Cheryl Halpern, the American producer and director of this feature length documentary, said, "I appreciate the opportunity to share my documentary film, subtitled in the Bahasa language, with Indonesian and other Asian Pacific audiences. This film presents a lesson from the past that must be remembered today in our world where violence, prejudice and injustice is emerging with renewed vigor. Maurits Kiek is a hero for all of us to remember as we, too, are challenged to respond to inhumanity and cruelty."

“Herinneren: Het verhaal van Maurits Kiek…Remembering: The Maurits Kiek Story” presents a young Jewish man’s courage to return to Nazi-occupied Europe where a reward for his capture ‘dead or alive’ had already been posted.  He served as a covert British MI-9 agent and engaged in saving the lives of allied airmen and others regardless of race, religion or creed.  Maurits Kiek’s unwavering determination to stand up, in the face of overwhelming odds, and fight the perpetrators of evil was most recently acknowledged in 2015 in Den Haag, the seat of government for The Netherlands.
 
When asked to explain why she chose to produce this documentary, Mrs. Halpern explained, “I was motivated to produce this documentary given the rise of neo-Nazism, extremism and intolerance around the world and the  exposure of the younger generations, the vanguard of the future, to this bigotry and fanaticism on multiple global multimedia and social networking platforms.  Every generation needs to be taught, with and by example, that when individuals are persecuted because of gender, race, religion or physical limitations, that they have an obligation to protest and stand against the oppressors before they too lose their human dignity.”
 
After the screening of her documentary, Mrs. Halpern received the International Woman of Change Award from the World Humanitarian Awards Organization (WHAO). “ Cheryl Halpern deserves this award because she is a woman who has and continues to promote change around the world, not only with her documentaries that applaud the spirit of achievement and provide positive visual images and messages for all audiences, but also with her support for initiatives that encourage young people to appreciate their potential and understand their responsibilities as members of peaceful and tolerant societies wherever they live," stated Damien Dematra, Chairman of the WHAO.
 
In Indonesia, Mrs. Halpern is a founder of the Visions of Peace Initiative (VOPI), a not for profit organization, that is dedicated to stimulating youth to first consider and then express their ideas with regard to civility and peaceful coexistence using the broad spectrum of art modalities, including drawing, poetry, song, dance and film. This initiative engages with youth participants under the age of 18 and has already visited schools and orphanages in 22 different cities and has gone viral. When asked to clarify her commitment to the VOPI, Mrs. Halpern explained,  “This is a priority for me especially since we are living in a time when so many of the stories that are aired and shared on the multimedia and social networking platforms focus on violence, hatred corruption and abuse.  By providing an opportunity for their artistic expressions for a more peaceful tomorrow to be seen, heard and shared I hope that our youthful participants will develop a more tolerant state of mind for themselves and will integrate the goals of the VOPI into their daily lives as they mature.” 
 
In addressing the screening of her documentary together with her receiving the WHAO award, Mrs. Halpern remarked, “the words of Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Elie Wiesel that are noted at the end of my documentary “Remembering: The Maurits Kiek Story” are equally appropriate for the VOPI, ‘Mankind must remember that Peace is not God’s gift to his creatures.  It is our gift to each other.’ I hope that with proper education and exposure to role models like Maurits Kiek that the youth will find the personal strength to work towards the goal of peaceful coexistence that has eluded previous generations.”

Film Festivals Alliance
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Company Name & Address: Film Festivals Alliance, PO BOX 6987, Jakarta JAT PK 13710, Indonesia