Andrea Simon

Salka Viertel: Every Sunday

After 1933, Hollywood became "a ghetto under Pacific palms,” home to refugee artists like Fritz Lang, Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht, Arnold Schoenberg. Salka was a brilliant Austrian ex-actress and MGM’s most highly paid screenwriter: her Sunday salons were the exiles' refuge and rescue. “It’s more that I’m asking than a bed for the night. It’s a chance to talk of home…” [Greta Garbo, in Salka's script for QUEEN CHRISTINA] "The climate alone is enough to drive you meshuggeh!" [Hannah Arendt]

Angel Wagenstein: Art Is a Weapon

As a teenager in wartime Bulgaria, Wagenstein commanded a daredevil Jewish partisan brigade, surviving capture and torture by fascist police. At 94 years old, screenwriter, author and revolutionary Angel Wagenstein offers an account of his life in film and politics. Film clips contextualize historical moments and history contextualizes the films as Wagenstein provides witty and insightful commentary throughout.