OMNI Documentaries

(Canscene) Outcasts: a Love Story
(Canscene) –Under the OMNI-TV Independent Producers Initiative, more than 100 60-minute documentaries have been financed 100% by the program, many of which have already been seen on OMNI stations in Toronto, Alberta and Vancouver. One such is Outcasts: a Love Story already screened last month but certain to be re-shown again and again

This is no cliché-ridden, sugary attempt to define love but a film of great depth and significance. Outcasts: a Love Story explores how passionate love between a man and a woman evolves over the years.

The film was 100 percent financed by OMNI-TVs Independent Producers Initiative and has already been seen on OMNI stations but its subject matter guarantees future repeat screenings.

Susan Papp, a seasoned producer of documentaries has created a film which in the space of one hour tells a poignant story that moves us to some surprising endings.

Tibor Schroeder, a businessman and reservist in the German dominated army and his secretary, a young Jewish girl named Hedy Weisz were deeply in love and had intended to marry, but these were hard times for residents of Nagyszollos.

In 1944, the small town whose mainly Hungarian population had in post World War 1 been subjugated to Czech and then German occupation saw a tightening of the Nazi grip on the area.

Formerly, Jews and Gentiles had lived side by side in harmony. When Hitler’s SS moved in, Jews were rounded up for the death camps and in spite of a daring plan Tibor had devised for Hedy and himself to escape, she insisted on staying and sharing their fate with her kinfolk. This led to incarceration in Auschwitz. At war’s end, Tibor’s search for Hedy begins. Has she survived? Where can she be?

Tibor’s search is long and arduous. His younger brother Bela and Hedy’s younger sibling Itzhak — returning from Israel where he has settled — join in the search.

This is a film of great contrasts — the surpassing beauty of the countryside surrounding Nagyszollos and the brutal treatment accorded prisoners of war in camps run by American forces. The patience of Bela and Itzhak and Tibor’s growing passion to find his loved one is well delineated without once descending to maudlin sentimentalism.

Nagyszollos, now part of Ukraine, is still disallowed to claim its proud Hungarianism and so many like Bela and Itzhak remain unable to claim the citizenship their heritage cries out for.

Outcasts: a Love Story has many surprises and an ending that demonstrates how even out of the great miseries suffered by so many, a significant youth movement has evolved to strengthen interest in the Hungarian identity.

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2 Responses to “OMNI Documentaries”

  1. ben viccari Says:

    Thanks Bill for the slide show which we hope will entice more viewers to look at this remarkable story and the aspects of love it brings to us. I suggest frequent checking of TV guides for Oucasts: a Love Story

  2. bill Says:

    You are very welcome , Ben. Your write-up has piqued my curiosity about this story and so have the photos. I will be following your advice, watching the TV schedule.