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Opposite page:
Top: Refugees gather for a religious
service in a DP camp in a scene from
"The Long Way Home."
of the 1981 film Genocide, which is
about the Holocaust and was narrat-
ed by Elizabeth Taylor and Orson
Welles.
He also wrote and co-produced
the award-winning Echoes That
Remain, a documentary on pre-World
War II European Jewish life.
Under Rabbi Hier's direction, the
Wiesenthal Center has served as con-
sultant to Steven Spielberg's epic
Schindler's List and ABC Television's
miniseries "War and Remembrance."
Rabbi Hier hopes to produce one
film a year. The next will be available
at the end of April.
"We are now working on a film
about the 50th anniversary of
Israel," Rabbi Hier said. "It will be a
serious look at Israel. We will show
there is a conflict, and we will show
both sides.
"There are people who are frus-
trated because they want peace and
want to accelerate the peace process,
and there are other citizens of Israel
who are more conscious of their secu-
rity needs. They say if they can't put
their children on a bus, we shouldn't
go any further with the peace
process."
While making The Long Way
Home, the production team decided
not to go beyond two hours. There
was much, including poignant sto-
ries, that had to be omitted. Even so,
Rabbi Hier believes the footage
0 touches upon issues that go beyond
Judaism.
"I think it gives the story of
refugees and what it means to be left
without a country," he said.
"We invoke traditional American
sympathy toward victims of wars of
genocide because our country is really
a country of many different refugees
of different periods of history. If we
all search back to our own ancestors,
eventually we will find refugees." 0
0
Middle: From "The Long Way Home":
Lobbying for the creation of a Jewish
state.
Bottom: From "The Long Way Home':•
There is no freedom without Jewish
freedom.
This page:
Above: Morgan Freeman is the
principal narrator of Moriah Film's
"The Long Way Home."
For stories on other films Oscar-
nominated for Best Documentary Fea-
ture, see this week's (At The Movies."
Right: Producer Richard Trank, Actor
Ed Asner and Writer/Director Mark
Jonathan Harris contributed their
talents to the project.
By looking at how much of the
world ignored the plight of these
refugees, the filmmakers wanted to
offer important lessons for dealing
with refugees of Bosnia, Africa and
Central America.
"There were tremendous surprises
as we did our research," said Rabbi
Hier, who emphasized the anti-
Semitic slurs in General Patton's
diary, similar statements by British
Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin and
the anti-Israel position of U.S. Secre-
tary of State George Marshall.
This film represents the rabbi's
continuing effort to attract the atten-
tion of youths, who, he believes,
might watch a video but not read a
book about Jewish issues.
"If we want to reach young people
and communicate important mes-
sages to them, we're going to have to
do it in the media of the time," the
rabbi said.
"It was on Mount Moriah that the
Jewish people came into being, so we
call our division Moriah Films. Many
will deal with the 3,500-year Jewish
experience, but we will do many
films on human rights issues as we
continue to produce documentaries."
Rabbi Hier received an Academy
Award as co-producer and co-writer
The Long Way Home will be shown
at the Birmingham Theatre during
its second annual "Best of the
Academy Film Festival," which
runs March 13-22. Check your
local listings or call (248) 644-
FILM for specific days and times.
The Long Way Home also will be
screened at the DIA's Detroit Film
Theatre 7:30 p.m. Monday, April
6. (313) 833-2323.
3/13
1998
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