Inside Hana's Suitcase (NR)

synopsis

The delivery of a battered suitcase to Fumiko Ishioka at the Tokyo Holocaust Museum begins the true-life mystery that became the subject of Karen Levine's best-selling book Hana's Suitcase. The suitcase came from the Auschwitz Museum and had Hana Brady's name painted on it. Larry Weinstein's masterful film follows Fumiko's search to discover the details of Hana's life, which leads to the discovery of her brother George in Toronto. As small children they had been sent to Thereisenstadt for being Jewish after the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939. The voices of children from Japan, Canada, and the Czech Republic telling Hana's story are woven around the drama, along with George's memories and Fumiko's quest, to create a film of astonishing power and hope.