Broken Dreams
Broken Dreams is the compelling story of two Jewish teenage sisters struggling to survive the Holocaust in Nazi occupied Poland. They are both talented: Ariana Elizabeth Bellak (born Ariana Spiegel), a child prodigy, performs on stage in Warsaw shortly before the war. She sings, plays piano, and recites poems. She also appears in several feature films by famous Polish directors and is commonly referred to as the "Polish Shirley Temple". She is nine years old when the war starts. Renia is more introverted, romantic and sensitive. She is a gifted poet who keeps a diary spanning the years 1939 to 1942. Ariana, who currently lives in New York, narrates her story on screen. Her narration intertwines with text from Renia's diary recited by Aleksandra Bernatek, an actress from their home town of Przemyśl.
Screenings
Press
Educational Media Review - The film is recommended for use in history, WW II, or Jewish studies.
Video Librarian - recommended.
https://videolibrarian.com/reviews/broken-dreams/
Hollywood Reporter - “A deeply moving first-hand account”
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/broken-dreams-1260015
Los Angeles Times - “Vital and intriguing”
New York Times - "A Slain Jewish Girls Diary of Life under the Soviets and the Nazis"
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/world/europe/holocaust-diary-renia-spiegel.html
Washington Post - "Before Anne Frank, there was Renia Spiegel: The ominous message of a long-forgotten World War II diary"
Independent - Insight into horrors of Nazi-occupied Poland revealed in newly discovered journal
The Guardian - 'Terrible times are coming': the Holocaust diary that lay unread for 70 years
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/09/holocaust-diary-renia-spiegel
Forward - Why Renia Spiegel Is Being Called ‘The Polish Anne Frank’
https://forward.com/culture/books/431304/why-renia-spiegel-is-being-called-the-polish-anne-frank/