The Story of Annette Zelman

The Edward S. Finkelstein Harrisburg Jewish Film Festival 

Season Finale Mini Fest

France, 2023/Drama, 93 minutes/French, with subtitles/Written by Emmanuel Salinger, borrowed from the book Dénoncer les Juifs sous l’Occupation by Laurent Joly/Directed by Philippe LeGuay

Based on a true account found in the book Dénoncer les Juifs sous l’Occupation (“Denouncing the Jews under the Occupation”), The Story of Annette Zelman channels Romeo and Juliet into Nazi-occupied Paris, 1942.  Annette is Jewish; Jean, her passionate suitor, is Catholic.  Much to the chagrin of Jean’s wealthy, well-connected, and, frankly, anti-Jewish parents, the young couple are determined to marry, and in a singular effort to save his son from what he believes will be a terrible mistake, Jean’s father reports Annette to the Gestapo, with tragic, unintended consequences for all concerned.