An evening with Yoram Gross and his films

In November 2010, the Jewish Holocaust Centre hosted an evening with internationally acclaimed film director, producer and scriptwriter, Yoram Gross.

Yoram Gross, who has won many prizes at film festivals around the world, is known foremost for his adaptation of children’s books to animation. These include Dot and the Kangaroo, Blinky Bill and Skippy. However, he also has a rich personal history and uses film and television to share his life experiences. Yoram was born in Krakow, Poland. His family was part of Oskar Shindler’s well-known list, but chose instead to risk escaping from the Nazi regime, moving hiding places over seventy times. These experiences have influenced his film-making, which is imbued with messages of loyalty, peaceful resolve and the triumph of good over evil.

‘Refugees’, ‘asylum seekers’ and ‘boat people’ are terms with which most Australians are familiar. Many Australians may not realise, however, that in the Jewish community we have many individuals whose experiences as refugees are very similar to those of today’s refugees.

Entering the film industry in Krakow in 1947, Yoram Gross moved to Israel in 1950 and became an independent film producer and director. In 1968 he and his wife, Sandra, migrated to Australia with their young family, and have since lived in Sydney.

Although best know for his children’s films, Yoram Gross has made experimental films and films based on the Holocaust. At the evening at the JHC, he showed some of these powerful short films, interspersed with commentary about how he came to make them. One of the highlights was the screening of Autumn in Krakow, a poignant short film about his hometown, based on the poetry of his late brother, Nathan.