Teenage Witness: The Fanya Heller Story National Broadcast Premiere

Acclaimed Author, Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Shares Her Victory of Life Over Death

Mar 28, 2011, 18:19 ET from Fanya Gottesfeld Heller

NEW YORK, March 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- On Sunday, April 3rd, PBS affiliate stations will begin a month long, coast-to-coast series of broadcasts of Teenage Witness: The Fanya Heller Story, narrated by Richard Gere and based on the memoir by Fanya Gottesfeld Heller, Love In A World of Sorrow. The airing of this film – in cities including: Cincinnati, Jacksonville, New York, Albuquerque, Chicago, and Los Angeles – will lead into Holocaust Memorial Day, which is May 2nd, and continue being shown for two weeks beyond.

Teenage Witness is a raw, emotional look at survival through an unfiltered narrative lens. Only through the kindness of a Polish peasant did Fanya and her family survive – hidden beneath a chicken coop with her parents and brother for two and a half years. Fanya's story resonates with the extremes of fear, starvation and a remarkable tenacity of spirit even as death is slowly seeping in against life.

We learn about Fanya's relationship with a Ukrainian soldier (a Nazi collaborator) who also helped to save her family from certain death. And how, in the end, this relationship leaves Fanya with questions she continues to struggle with to this day.  

Mrs. Fanya Heller, an 86 year old Holocaust survivor, has made it her life's work to share her unique story with inner city teenagers who sympathize with her as they share parallels in their own lives. They understand the choices that she was forced to make and relate to the unexpected love she found in the midst of horror and chaos.  

Since the publication of her book in 1993, Fanya has dedicated her life to spreading her message of hope to audiences young and old.

"What is most important to me about making this film," says Fanya, "is that this is another medium of reaching people – particularly the younger generations – who must be exposed to lessons in courage and tolerance, as well as to the dangers of prejudice and baseless hatred."

As the survivor population grows older, with most in their seventies, eighties, and beyond, there is an urgent need for their stories to be shared so that people will never forget what happened.  The atrocities of the Holocaust happened more than sixty years ago, but the lessons are just as relevant today.

Teenage Witness, produced by On Screen Entertainment, is the recipient of the Silver Telly Award and has also received the Park City Film Music Festival's Jury Choice Gold Medal for Excellence.

Teenage Witness: The Fanya Heller Story, airs on the growing list of PBS affiliate stations below.

To arrange for interviews with Mrs. Heller, please call 212-489-0600.

Teenage Witness Broadcast Schedule

(Additional Broadcast Dates To Follow)

DATE

TIME

STATION

CITY





April 3

10:00 pm

WPTO

Cincinnati

April 3

10:00 pm

KET2

Louisville

April 4

8:00 pm

KVCR

Los Angeles

April 9

9:00 pm

KUEN

Salt Lake City

April 10

12:00 am

WMVS

Milwaukee

April 10

10:00 pm

WNET

New York

April 10

10:00 pm

WPBA

Atlanta

April 11

8:00 pm

KVIE

Sacramento

April 11

11:00 pm

KETC

St. Louis

April 11

11:00 pm

OPB

Portland

April 11

9:00 pm

KENW

Albuquerque

April 12

10:00 pm

KENW

Albuquerque

April 13

2:00 am

KENW

Albuquerque

April 13

7:00 pm

KBTC

Seattle

April 13

10:00 pm

CPTV

Hartford

April 13

10:00 pm

WPTO

Cincinnati

April 13

6:00 am

KENW

Albuquerque

April 13

12:00 pm

KENW

Albuquerque

April 13

10:00 pm

KET2

Louisville

April 14

9:00 pm

WLVT

Philadelphia

April 14

10:00 pm

WJCT

Jacksonville

April 15

11:00 pm

WEDU

Tampa

April 17

11:00 pm

CET

Cincinnati

April 19

10:00 pm

KOCE

Los Angeles

April 24

10:00 pm

WNED

Buffalo

April 25

3:00 am

WNED

Buffalo

April 25

9:00 pm

KRCB

San Francisco

April 25

10:00 pm

WLIWDT

New York

April 25

11:00 pm

WGVA

Grand Rapids

April 27

11:00 pm

KQED

San Francisco

April 28

4:00 am

WGVA

Grand Rapids

April 30

12:30 am

NHPTV

Boston

April 30

5:00 pm

WLIWDT

New York

April 30

9:00 pm

WTTW

Chicago

April 30

12:30 am

NHPTV

Boston





May 1

5:00 pm

WTVS

Detroit

May 11

11:00 pm

MPT

Baltimore







SOURCE Fanya Gottesfeld Heller