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Biographical Drama, THE WINDERMERE CHILDREN, Airs Sunday, March 21 at 7:30 pm
< < Back toBased on a Remarkable True Story of Holocaust Orphans in England
THE WINDERMERE CHILDREN, a feature-length dramatization of a remarkable true story about hope in the aftermath of the Holocaust, will air on Sunday, March 21, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. on WOUB. The 90-minute film is based on the powerful first-person testimony of orphaned survivors who rebuilt their lives in the U.K. following World War II.
“PBS continues its commitment to bringing high-quality historical dramas to our viewers with a night of programming centered around World War II,” said Maria Bruno Ruiz, Vice President of Program Scheduling at PBS.
From BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Simon Block and BAFTA- and Emmy-winning director Michael Samuels, THE WINDERMERE CHILDREN is led by an incredible cast including Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist), Romola Garai (“The Miniaturist”), Tim McInnerny (“Strangers”) and Iain Glen (“Game of Thrones”).
The story follows a group of child Holocaust survivors who are transported to the Calgarth Estate by Lake Windermere, England in August 1945. Carrying only the clothes they wear and a few meager possessions, they bear the emotional and physical scars of all they have suffered.
Child psychologist Oscar Friedmann (Kretschmann) is charged with looking after the children. He and his team of counselors, including art therapist Marie Paneth (Garai), philanthropist Leonard Montefiore (McInnerny) and sports coach Jock Lawrence (Glen), have four months to help the children begin to heal and reclaim their lives. They learn English, play football, ride bikes, attempt to integrate with the locals and express their trauma through painting. Haunted by nightmares, they yearn for news of their loved ones from the Red Cross, but in the absence of relatives, the children find family in each other.
THE WINDERMERE CHILDREN is the stark, moving and ultimately redemptive story of the bonds the children make with one another, and of how the friendships forged at Windermere sustain them as they work to rebuild their lives in the U.K.
The film will stream simultaneously with broadcast on April 5, 2020 and be available for two weeks on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video App for iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV and Chromecast. Two weeks after premiere, PBS station members can stream the film with PBS Passport. Click here to join WOUB Passport and have access to streaming content today!