Disobedience, the Sousa Mendes Story


Un film de :

Joël Santoni

Script:

Joël Santoni
Jean-Carol Larrivé
José-Alain Fralon
Based on an original idea by Martine Chicot

Featuring:

Bernard Le Coq
Roger Souza
Nanou Garcia
Frédéric Quiring
Emilie Scarlett-Moget
Paolo Matos
Lionel Lingelser

Genre:

TV film
History film

Run time:

100 mins

Broadcast by:

France 2 (France)

Year:

2008

Synopsis:

In June 1940, while the German forces were invading France, the 'greatest rescue operation carried out by a single person during the Holocaust' took place (according to Yehuda Bauer, the Holocaust historian): over 30,000 people, including 10,000 Jews, were able to escape the barbarity of the Nazi regime.

A single man, defying his superiors and the orders of the Portuguese dictator Salazar, followed his conscience and soul and enabled tens of thousands of refugees to escape to his country, Portugal, by organising the continuous issuing of visas over a period of several days. This man was Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Bordeaux consul.


Awards: Best film and best actor (2010 Mirabile Dictu International Catholic Film Festival).

A Panama Productions production
Coproduction: F Productions

With the participation of France 2
With the participation of the Centre national de la Cinématographie
With the support of the Aquitaine Region
With the collaboration of the Agence Aquitaine Image Cinéma / Commission du Film Aquitaine

With the support of the Gironde Department

With the support of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah

With the participation of TV5 Monde