La France Divisée

Reactions To The Film

Here are some comments that viewers of the film have been generous enough to share with us:

  • “A strong point of La France Divisée is the richness and variety of its visual content. As the viewer hears the voice of each survivor, the video displays a montage of archival documents, newsreel footage, and family photos. The accompanying study guide provides additional historical, birographical, and lexical information, as well as comprehension quesitons and suggestions for further activities, all in English.”

    • —Alice J. Strange, The French Review 77.5, April 2004

  • “Terse and evocative, it raises important questions about those complicated times.”

    • —Pierre Sauvage, Filmmaker and Director of Weapons of the Spirit, Los Angeles, CA

  • “A very good pedagogical tool!”

    • —Jean-Noel Liabeuf, Ministère des Anciens Combattants, Paris, France

  • “France Divided is so powerful, so straightforward, so unsentimental, and so honest, that it brought tears to my eyes.”

    • —Ruth Gruber, Author of Haven and Exodus 1947, Photographer and Lecturer, New York, NY

  • “A wonderfully produced documentary!”

    • —Shimon Samuels, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Paris, France

  • “Fascinating and quite accurate. It reminded me of Claude Landsman’s Shoah.”

    • —Frederick Raymes, author of Are the Trees in Bloom over there? and survivor of Gurs internment camp, University Park, Florida

  • “A very well-made documentary!”

    • —Danièle Thomas-Easton, Consul de France, Philadelphia, PA

  • “A complex and compelling portrait of French complicity and resistance during World War II.”

    • —The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York, NY

  • “Witnesses who lived through the Second World War and subsequent historians succinctly describe the complexity of French responses to the Holocaust. The result is riveting!”

    • —Susan Zuccotti, Historian and Author of The Holocaust, The French and The Jews, Brooklyn, NY

  • “Great job!”

    • —Bruce Levy, Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archives, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.

  • “The testimonies are engaging and well-edited, the documentation is extraordinary and the result very well-balanced.”

    • —Renée Hartz, Hidden Child and subject of the memoir Your Name is Renée, Elkins Park, PA

  • “Formidable! Short, historical, direct and candid.”

    • —Nelly Trocmé Hewett, Daughter of Pastor André Trocmé, Formerly of Le Chambon, France