episode
A love letter to her late husband and filmmaking partner of 40 years, THE SHIP THAT TURNED BACK is the latest work from Oscar and Emmy Award-winning Bay Area filmmaker Allie Light. The film recounts the dramatic escape of her late husband, Irving Saraf, from Poland to Palestine in 1940, when he was just 7 years old. As a young boy, Irving and his family escaped from the Nazis by train from Lodz to Warsaw, then through Austria and Italy, before attempting to reach Palestine by boat in an aborted journey. The film's title refers to the boat turning back when Italy joined the war. The ship's passengers became captives of Mussolini's pirates but were then saved by the British Navy. Irving's childhood traumas haunted Allie for years, compelling her to tell his story. THE SHIP THAT TURNED BACK explores Irving's memories in parallax - through the dual lens of the 7-year-old boy who experienced it and the older man recounting his dramatic escape to his grandchildren. The film weaves together childhood recollections, family dramatizations, children's illustrations and historical clips to bring the story to life.
