Film Preview & Talk: "Voices in the Void"

*Please note that the film is in English (no subtitles) and the talk will also be held in English*

Humanity in Action and Jewish Information Centre are pleased to invite you to the preview of “Voices in the Void”, an animated short film about late Rabbi Bent Melchior’s escape to Sweden in October 1943. The film is followed by a talk with Ole Philipson, refugee of October 1943, in conversation with Mirjam Capelle, author of “Min sjæls vandmærke”. 

“Voices in the Void” (2020) is an animated short film produced by Humanity in Action, now shown for the first time in Denmark. It tells the story of the Melchior family in occupied Denmark in 1943 and their escape to Sweden. Pushed to the brink, theirs is a story of rescue, return, and compassion. Bent Melchior narrates his own story along with the Danish actress Ina-Miriam Rosenbaum. After the film screening we invite you to a conversation with retired ambassador Ole Philipson, himself a refugee of October 1943, in conversation with Mirjam Capelle, psychologist and author. The event is presentet by Humanity in Action and Jewish Information Centre.

"Voices in the Void"

This animated short film (20 min.) recounts the remarkable “Danish Exception” of October 1943. The piece features the story of late Rabbi and prominent human rights activist Bent Melchior (1929-2021), who, as a teenager went into hiding with his family to escape Nazi deportation. In his own words, Rabbi Melchior tells a story of heroism and survival, and of the regular Danish people who took exceptional steps to save their neighbors and ensure their safe escape to Sweden. This animation gives a new kind of visual life to this important chapter of history, bringing it to new generations. 

The film was selected for the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival, the LA Shorts International Film Festival, the Hayah International Short Film Festival of Panama, where it received an honorable mention for raising historical awareness, and the Copenhagen Jewish Film Festival. It was also chosen by the Danish and Israeli Foreign Ministries to be screened at the international expo in Dubai on January 27, 2022, making it one of the first films about the holocaust to ever be screened in the UAE. 

Ole Philipson

Ole Philipson (b. 1931) in Copenhagen. In 1943 - 12 years old - he and his family fled Denmark from the Nazi persecution of the Danish Jews. After completing his studies Philipson joined the Danish Foreign Office and served in several countries before arriving in Chile in 1973. In connection with the bloody military coup led by general Pinochet a dramatic refugee situation arose. After Philipson having been a refugee himself 30 years earlier, he could now help Chilean political victims escape persecution. After formal retirement Philipson was elected President of the international Bureau for Expositions in Paris and has worked as an advisor in the World Expositions till recently.

Mirjam Capelle

Mirjam Capelle (b. 1966) is a trained psychologist and a member of the board of the Danish Theresienstadt Association. She is the author of “Min sjæls vandmærke” (2021) ("The Watermark of My Soul"), a Jewish family history about Mirjam Capelle’s family's departure from Eastern Europe and immigration to Denmark, her mother’s and grandparent’s escape to Sweden during World War II, and her great grandparent’s deportation to Theresienstadt, up until Mirjam's own childhood and life today.  “Min sjæls vandmærke” is described as a strong, poetic and deeply personal book about reconciling with the past and being grateful - after all. A tale of how reconciliation is possible and can lead to new hope, even when life looks bleak.