A Jewish Holocaust survivor is haunted by memories of the Polish lover that risked his life to save her. The romantic war drama “Remembrance” directed by Anna Justice is the opening night film of the 14th Annual Kansas City Jewish Film Festival.

The remarkable love story that blossomed amidst the terror of a German concentration camp in 1944 Poland is inspired by true events. A bond of passionate feelings forms between Tomasz Limanowski, a young Polish prisoner, and Hannah Silberstein, a German Jew from Berlin. Although men and women are separated in the camp, these two lovers meet clandestinely. Against all odds, Tomasz finds the courage to pull off a daring escape and rescues Hannah from a likely death. They survive a treacherous journey to freedom through the forest. They do whatever it takes to find food, clothing and shelter.

They end up at Tomasz’s mother’s house. His mother, upon being introduced to Hannah, tells Tomasz to get rid of her. She is against Tomasz marrying a Jewess. Tomasz is in possession of a film canister that he smuggled out of the camp. It is vital evidence of the Final Solution. He needs to turn this information over to the Polish homeland army. He keeps this a secret from Hannah. He leaves for Warsaw and promises to be back in two days.

Hannah is unable to get along with Tomasz’s mother. After nearly being discovered by an SS officer, she makes her way to Tomasz’s older brother’s house. She forms a friendship with sister-in-law Magda. Hannah finally gives up hope when Tomasz never returns.

The other half of the film takes place more than 30 years later in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Hannah is a happily married 52-year-old mother of a college-aged daughter. While waiting to pick up her tablecloths at a New York City dry cleaners, she accidentally notices a television interview with a man that resembles her former Polish lover. He is recalling his first encounter with a woman who became the love of his life. Hannah is overwhelmed by memories of the past she has never shared with anybody. She begins to search again for Tomasz believing that he is still alive.

The movie goes back and forth between 1944 and 1976 much like the narrative in “Sarah’s Key.” Initially, the scenes are short to keep the viewer guessing. The scenes are then replayed and drawn out in longer takes to fill in the blanks.

A different set of actors play the central couple in the two time periods. The cast is mostly unknown to American audiences except for David Rasche (“Burn After Reading”) who plays Hannah’s present day researcher husband Daniel Levine.

Besides the superb acting, the movie’s strengths include the beautiful cinematography and an intelligent script that explores the deepest emotions of mankind. The movie was previously shown at Jewish film festivals around the world and won the Audience Award in Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong and Zagreb.

This emotionally moving film is for mature audiences with scenes of torture and sexuality. It holds your interest throughout a running time of 105 minutes. The dialogue is in German, Polish and Russian with easy-to-read English subtitles. It gets my vote as the best film of this year’s festival and deserves my GOOD rating of 3 stars.

Kansas City Jewish Film Festival

Seven films will be featured at the 14th Annual Jewish Film Festival. They are:

“Remembrance,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13

“The Rescuers,” 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14

“A Serious Man,” 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 15

“Jews and Baseball — An American Love Story,” 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17

“This Is Sodom,” 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20

“The Yankles,” 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21

“Le Concert,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21

The film festival program is posted in its entirety at www.kcjff.org, along with preview clips and links for ticket purchase.

Tickets for individual films or a festival pass are available online at kcjff.org or by calling the box office 913-327-8054. Box office hours are 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. All films are general admission; festival pass holders are seated 10 minutes before general public.

For further information contact Krista Blackwood, director of cultural Arts at 913-327-8073 or .