'Remember This' tells the story of a reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witness
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Apr. 16—Derek Goldman is ready for a new audience to see "Remember This."
The director and playwright presented the theater piece in New York, Poland and London. It will be broadcast on PBS as part of the Great Performances series at 9 p.m. Sunday, April 16, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.4. It will also stream on the PBS app.
"It feels like this is an important chapter in the process," Goldman says. "For it to be shared on a platform like PBS so the audience is wide."
Goldman says in the episode, Academy Award nominee David Strathairn tells the true story of reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witness Jan Karski with Strathairn also portraying over 30 other characters.
The episode is part of Great Performances' 50th anniversary season and is accompanied by "Remembering Jan Karski," a behind-the-scenes companion film that examines the ongoing relevance of Karski's story.
After surviving the devastation of the Blitzkrieg, Karski swears allegiance to the Polish Underground and risks his life to carry the first eyewitness reports of the Holocaust to the Western world, and ultimately, the Oval Office.
Escaping a Gestapo prison, bearing witness to the despair of the Warsaw ghetto, and confronted by the barbaric inhumanity of a death camp, Karski endures mental anguish and physical torture to stand tall and speak the truth. At times addressing the audience directly, Strathairn powerfully communicates this story of moral courage and individual responsibility that has become even more urgent for today's world.
Goldman co-directed the episode along with Jeff Hutchens.
The duo filmed in black and white, and utilized a minimal set that transformed into many locations through the use of dramatic lighting effects.
The film is based on the play "Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski" by Clark Young and Goldman that was originally produced by the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University.
The film was shot in July 2020 at a Brooklyn, New York, soundstage at the height of the pandemic and was completed in 2022.
Earlier this year, the film was released by Abramorama in collaboration with Great Performances, in a limited theatrical run to critical acclaim.
"(The piece) tells the dangers of misinformation and propaganda," he says. "This story provides a particular human lens."
On TV
Great Performances' "Remember This" will air 9 p.m. Sunday, April 16, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.4. It will also stream on the PBS app.
