The U of A's Italian Program is partnering with the Instituto di cultura italiana in Los Angeles for International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2021.

The Instituto has organized a virtual screening of noted Italian director Mimmo Calopresti's film I Only Wanted to Live (2006).  

This documentary chronicles the Holocaust as experienced in Italy, from the racial laws Mussolini enacted in 1938 through the German invasion in 1943 and the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945.

The experiences are made personal through the use of testimony from the archive of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education. Nine Italian citizens, all survivors of Auschwitz, share their stories; their testimonies are woven among personal and historical photographs and additional archival footage.

Accompanied by an exclusive video introduction by the director, Mimmo Calopresti, and remarks by the Consul General of Italy in Los Angeles, Silvia Chiave.

To access the film, you do need to register. The event is free and open to the public; please share widely.

The film is available from 6 p.m. PST (8 p.m. Central) Wednesday, Jan. 27, to midnight PST Sunday, Jan. 31.