Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival 2008

First timer director Joshua Sinclair tells the true story of Jewish photographer Philippe Halsman who became the first Jewish victim of the incipient anti-Semitism of National Socialism. Not until well-known international figures such as Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud and Thomas Mann rallied to his cause, demanding a fair trial, was Philippe freed.

On a September afternoon in 1928, Philippe, played by Ben Silverstone, embarked on a hike with his father in the Alps. By the end of the day, this father was dead – setting in motion his extraordinary journey from imprisonment as a murderer to becoming a prominent celebrity photographer in America.

Set in Austria during the rise of fascism that led to the Second World War, 22-year-old Philippe was swiftly convicted of patricide by a court in the throes of anti-Semitic sentiment. No one wanted to defend an outsider, let alone a Jew, and the local community hoped for a speedy trial that would wash their hands of the monstrous act.

Deliberately uninformed of his rights, Philippe was left in the dark of his cold cell until his mother and sister, alerted to the crisis, managed to procure a lawyer from the Jewish quarter in Vienna, played by Patrick Swayze, Wine Country Film Festival’s 2003 guest of honor. This riveting film is their story. (Later as an acclaimed photographer, commissioned to take portraits of the likes of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy, Philippe fixated on disarming his subjects to reveal the truth behind their public personas. He often asked them to jump – a practice he came to call “jumpology” – as a means of revealing their inner essence)

Following the film join producer Lilly Berger for a Q&A

Please note: Online ticket sales end 24 hours before each event. Tickets may still be available for purchase at the venue.