Next Stage [FRAMED] Film Series Presents: “Paperclips”

Next Stage Presents Paperclips An extraordinary documentary film about Holocaust Remembrance “straightforward, heartfelt and genuine” —Roger Ebert Next Stage Arts Project will present the documentary film Paperclips, an extraordinary documentary film about Holocaust Remembrance, as part of its [FRAMED] hosted film series at Next Stage on Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 7 pm. The Brattleboro Area Jewish Community (BAJC) will host the show, with an introduction and Q&A following the screening. Tickets are $12 suggested donation, available in advance and at the door. As part of its Searching for an effective way to teach their middle school students about the scale of the Holocaust, a principal and two key staff in Whitwell, Tennessee devise a unique class project involving paperclips — designed in Norway by a Jewish man, and worn as a sign of resistance there during WWII. The school, located in a rural, heavily Christian community, decides to collect 6 million paperclips as a way to realize the magnitude of the mass murder of Jews by Hitler. Instead, they receive 29 million paperclips, as word of their project grows with the help of two German newspaper correspondents stationed in Washington, D.C. whose story about the project is read worldwide. What happens in the course of the next four years is remarkable and deeply moving, culminating in the students — most of whom have never met a Jew — setting up a campus Holocaust museum in a boxcar used to deport Jews to concentration camps so that they can educate others about the mass slaughter, not only of Jews but of homosexuals, gypsy and other minorities murdered by the Nazis. In all 11 million paperclips are in the museum, one for every person murdered, along with other items of remembrance. The students meet and bond with Holocaust survivors. Teachers, other adults, and students begin to recognize and acknowledge their own prejudices. A suitcase arrives at the post office filled with Holocaust memorabilia. A train delivers the boxcar, secured by the German journalists — and all of this is captured in real time by documentary filmmaker Elliot Berlin. This project, and the film that tells its story, isn’t simply a memorial. It is a living reminder of what can happen when prejudice prevails. Made in 2004, it remains a a fitting way to remind people what happened in the dark days of WWII, and it offers a moving testament to the importance of Holocaust Memorial Day. [FRAMED] is a presentation by Next Stage Arts Project. Conceived in collaboration with former Tribeca Film Festival director Nancy Schafer, the series features feature length documentary films, each presented by the filmmaker or star in an intimate setting at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill, in Putney, Vermont. Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill in downtown Putney, VT. Tickets are $12 available online at nextstagearts.org and at the door. For information, call 802-387-0102. Next Stage has a beer and wine cash bar. Those attending the film can get a 20% discount on their entrée at The Gleanery, with a reservation at 387-3052.