Numbered — Claims Conference Film Grants

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Auschwitz prisoners, both Jewish or non-Jewish, were tattooed with serial numbers, first on their chests and then their left arms.

Synopsis

Auschwitz prisoners, both Jewish or non-Jewish, were tattooed with serial numbers, first on their chests and then their left arms. An estimated 400,000 numbers were tattooed in Auschwitz and its sub-camps; only some several thousand survivors are still alive today. NUMBERED is an explosive, highly visual, and emotionally cinematic journey, guided by testimonies and portraits of these survivors. The film documents the dark time and setting during which these tattoos were assigned as well as the meaning they took on in the years following the war. In fact, the film’s protagonist is the number itself, as it evolves and becomes both a personal and collective symbol from 1940 to today. These scars, paradoxically unanimous and anonymous, reveal themselves to be diverse, enlightening, and full of life.

About the Directors

Uriel Sinai, Co-Director and Photographer.

Uriel is an acclaimed photojournalist, represented by Getty Images. Among his awards: 1st place story prize from World Press Photo, Prix Bayeux-Calvados, Picture of the Year International. This year Uriel pioneered a visual-narrative video interview segment in Israel’s leading primetime TV Magazine, Uvda.

Uriel’s portraits in Project Numbered have already been chosen for Best Pictures in American Photography 27 Annual and won 1st prize in the portrait series in “Local Testimony” 2010, the main exposition of Israeli photojournalism.

Samples of his work available at http://urielsinai.com.

Dr. Dana Doron, Co-Director and Writer.

Dana is a physician with vast experience in Geriatric patient interviews and care. She is also a journalist, and is currently specializing in e-Health solutions for family practice. working as a product manager in Clalit Health Services, serving 4 million Israeli clients, she develops social media and innovative internet platforms aimed at simplifying medical contents and care to patients.

Dana initiated the project after treating an elderly Auschwitz survivor for chest pain in an Israeli ER. A granddaughter to an Auschwitz survivor herself, Dana decided to commemorate the story and life lessons of those who were tattooed with a number, so that her own (future) children would have an interesting way to get to know them, also when they are no longer among us.