An award-winning film shot on-site in the Ottawa Valley is making waves with its strong anti-hate message.
Hidden: The Kati Preston Story, a docudrama depicting the real-life struggles of a young Hungarian girl caught in the destruction of two authoritarian occupations during and after World War II, oversold its planned Monday evening screening at Renfrew’s O’Brien Theatre, requiring a double showing that night on top of an afternoon screening for students with Renfrew Collegiate Institute.
Producer Jody Glover says Kati’s story shows how easy a society can descend into tyranny when complicit in fear and hatred.
Glover says the production was lucky to have connections to the Ottawa Valley, especially near Mount St. Patrick, where her parents live, as the area’s old farmlands were the ideal location to emulate the Romanian farm Kati escaped capture in.
She was also blown away by how willing the community was to allow the crew to film on site, even in their own homes.
Audience members also got the opportunity to speak with Kati, who now tours schools across the United States, to ask about the lasting trauma of her experiences under both Nazi and Stalinist rule that decimated her family as a child, a history that Glover believes is a chilling reflection of threats faced today.
Glover says the film will return to the O’Brien Theatre in the near future in order to give students from other schools a chance to view the film for themselves.
(written by Kasey Egan)
KATI: (kah-TEE)
