New Documentary Spotlights Project Using Butterflies to Remember 1.5M Child Holocaust Victims

A new documentary telling the story of a groundbreaking educational project to memorialize every one of the 1.5 million children murdered in the Holocaust with painted ceramic butterflies will premiere in New York on Tuesday at the Manhattan JCC. "Not The Last Butterfly" (http://www.notthelastbutterfly.com), co-produced and co-directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Joe Fab ("Paper Clips") and artist Cheryl Rattner Price, tells the story of The Butterfly Project, a global education and arts program whose mission is to paint and display 1.5 million ceramic butterflies to honor and remember each child killed in the Holocaust, and to foster education and awareness of the dangers of hate and bigotry, by mobilizing the global community to stand up against injustice and create a more compassionate and peaceful world.

Watch the trailer below:

Fab, who also directed and produced the award-winning documentary "Paper Clips," about a Tennessee school project to memorialize Holocaust victims, and Rattner Price toured Latvia before the New York premiere, working with educators to bring the film and project to ethnic Latvian communities to promote a more tolerant society. Last May, the film received a standing ovation before a sold-out audience at a special preview at LA's Museum of Tolerance. The film began its festival run in November with a screening at the Virginia Film Festival and will be shown at festivals and special-event screenings in Atlanta, Palm Beach, and San Diego, among others.

The Butterfly Project is honoring the murdered children by creating community-based art installations of hand-painted ceramic butterflies around the world, with a goal of 1.5 million butterflies in total. Installations have already been created across the U.S., as well as in Australia, Poland, Israel, Canada, Uruguay, Mexico, the Czech Republic, and other countries, with more than 150,000 ceramic butterflies on display so far.

"Not The Last Butterfly" was filmed on-location in the U.S., the Czech Republic, Poland, and Israel, and features an original score by composer Charlie Barnett. In addition to chronicling The Butterfly Project, the documentary features Holocaust SURVIVOR Ela Weissberger, who endured imprisonment in the Theresienstadt concentration camp at Terezin, in the Czech Republic.

Following the New York premiere, from 7-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24, the filmmakers will conduct a Q&A session, along with Ela Weissberger, who survived the Terezin concentration camp, to create new ceramic butterflies with audience members.

"The essence of The Butterfly Project is to teach and connect us all while creating something of lasting beauty and dignity," said Rattner Price. "It has been a dream come true to see how the magic of film can create an even bigger ripple effect of remembrance and hope."

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