In this riveting documentary about World War II, director Julia Mintz weaves together archival footage and interviews with the Jewish partisans who took up arms, hunkered down in the forests, and fought the Nazi war machine.
Deep in the forests of Eastern Europe, hundreds and hundreds of people ignore the weather–bitter cold in the winter, stifling in the summer–and practice. Practice marching, practice running, practice firing rifles, and they strategize: how to blow up railroads, how to creep up behind someone and kill them, how to fight. These are the Jewish partisans, as young as teenages and as old as scholars, all ready to die–but even more importantly, eager to live–to liberate the Jews from the Nazis. Director Julia Mintz’s thrilling, and heartbreaking, documentary will leave viewers amazed at this little-known part of World War II. “[A]n absorbing and emotional testament to a little-known aspect of the Holocaust.” –Valerie Kafrin, Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Director Biography
Julia Mintz is an impassioned filmmaker whose work has focused on narratives of bravery and resistance against unimaginable odds. She has worked on films that have won or been shortlisted for every major cinematic or television award in America, including the Oscar. Four Winters (2022) is her debut documentary feature.