PELHAM, NY — On Wednesday, March 25th at 7:30 p.m. The Picture House will present a special screening of the new documentary Above and Beyond with a post-film discussion and Q&A with the film’s producer Nancy Spielberg.
The first major feature-length documentary about the foreign airmen in the ’48 War, Above and Beyond brings together new interviews with the pilots, as well as stunning aerial footage, to present a fascinating, little-known tale filled with heart, heroism, and high-flying chutzpah. The film follows the pilots on their circuitous route from the United States – where they met and trained in secret and struggled to stay two steps ahead of the FBI – to Panama, Italy and Czechoslovakia, where they flew versions of the very Nazi planes they had tried to shoot down in World War II.
More than a retelling of the ’48 Arab-Israeli War, Above and Beyond examines the motivations of the foreign volunteers – both Jews and non-Jews. The film recounts the personal stories of the young pilots, whose experiences in Israel were life altering. And through their stories, Above and Beyond reveals how under-equipped and isolated the Israelis were, how desperately they needed planes and pilots and how critical the actions of these young American men were for the country’s survival. Filmed in the U.S., Israel, and the United Kingdom, Above and Beyond is produced by Nancy Spielberg (Elusive Justice) and directed by Roberta Grossman (Blessed Is the Match), with cinematography by Harris Done (The Last Days), special effects by Industrial Light & Magic and an original score from Hans Zimmer’s Studio.
An accomplished businesswoman, fundraiser, and philanthropist, Nancy Spielberg has in recent years turned her energy and talents to producing documentary films. She served as consultant on the Oscar-winning documentary Chernobyl Heart, and is executive producer of Elusive Justice: The Search for Nazi War Criminals, which aired nationally on PBS, and the forthcoming documentary Mimi and Dona. She is also executive producing Who Will Write Our History, with director Roberta Grossman. Before creating and producing Above and Beyond, Spielberg produced a project for the Israeli government, Celebrities Salute Israel’s 60th, which was featured in Times Square on the NASDAQ screens for one month.
Spielberg grew up surrounded by the film industry, where she worked on her brother Steven’s early films. She attended Arizona State University and UCLA and, after moving to New York, studied film at Sarah Lawrence College and the New School in New York. She is founder and co-founder of several charities including A Bid for Charity, Children of Chernobyl, Project Sunshine, and the American branch of The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
Tickets to the screening and discussion are $12/general admission, $6/members, $10/students and seniors and are available at www.thepicturehouse.org or at the box office, 175 Wolfs Lane, Pelham, NY 10803.