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Film Screening: Charlotte

Charlotte tells the story of the artist Charlotte Salomon (1917-1943), whose collection of paintings, called "Life? Or Theater?," can be considered one of the first graphic novels. The autobiographical artworks tell of moments of joy and first loves as well as extreme distress while living and studying in Berlin in the Thirties, and later fleeing from the Nazis to the South of France. Charlotte Salomon died on October 10, 1943, five months pregnant, the day she arrived at Auschwitz.

The animated feature is a celebration of a life cut short and with great attention to detail, inspired by Charlotte's own paintings, tells the story of this extraordinary artist. From the death of her mother to an opera performance by her stepmother in 1933, interrupted by Nazis storming in, to meeting future benefactor Otilie Moore in Rome, to being accepted, then expelled from the Art Academy to crushes and family revelations - we see how she manifests her belief that "happiness is much deeper than suffering." The light changes when she travels to the Côte d'Azur to take care of her grandparents, but the dangers remain and she has to make the most difficult decisions. 2021, 1hour and 32 min runtime. Directed by Éric Warin and Tahir Rana.

Co-sponsored by Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Art, Art History and Visual Arts; Cinematic Arts