Run Boy Run

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Pepe Danquart takes us on a heartrending journey in his latest film RUN BOY RUN. Eight-year-old Srulik is already on the run when we meet him in winter of 1942/1943. His clothes are tattered, and he is covered in filth. The expansive Polish countryside through which he traverses underscores both his diminutive frame and the sheer solitude of his trek. Through a flashback, we learn Srulik’s father’s parting advice: to be brave, to be strong, to change his name, but to never forget he is Jewish. And Srulik—who renames himself Jurek Staniak—is ever faithful to his father’s words. Under the constant threat of Nazis, Srulik acquires the necessary skills to survive through the kindness of strangers, including a group of Jewish orphans, a kindly Catholic mother, and a compassionate blacksmith, among others. But nothing comes easy for Srulik, and he can never stay in one place for too long in this beautiful, poignant film, based on a true story. (In Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew, and German with subtitles) – E.B.