Themes: Assumed Identities, Crimes Against Humanity, Keeping a Secret
Main Cast: Ariana Savalas, Dimitri Diatchencko
Release Year: 2006
Country: US
Run Time: 122 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Veteran filmmaker Matt Cimber returned to the director’s chair for the first time in twenty-two years with this dark tale set during World War II. Miriam Schafer (Ariana Savalas) was fourteen years old when war broke out in her native Lithuania; while Miriam came from a Jewish family, her blonde hair and soft features made it easy for the young woman to disguise her ethnic identity, and when a pogrom sweeps through the nation, she’s taken in by a family who claims her as one of their own. However, Miriam soon found that part of the price of safety was sexual abuse at the hands of her new "father," and while the end of the war meant safety and freedom for most European Jews, Miriam enjoyed little respite. The Soviet Union soon took control of Lithuania, with Moscow’s anti-Semitic policies once again putting the nation’s Jews in jeopardy, and as she grew to adulthood Miriam was forced to hide her true identity from everyone she knew -- even her husband (imitri Diatchencko), who was an agent with the KGB. Inspired by a true story, Miriam marked the big screen debut of Ariana Savalas, the daughter of famed character actor Telly Savalas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Cast
Ariana Savalas - Miriam Schafer
Dimitri Diatchencko
Beata Pozniak; Nina Franoszek; Peter J. Lucas; Olga Vilner; Addi Kaplan; Shelly Kurtz
Credit
Matt Cimber - Director, Max Guefen - Executive Producer, Matt Cimber - Producer, Matt Cimber - Screenwriter, John F. Goff - Screenwriter
