Jessica Daniel Movies

Fumiko Ishioka is a teacher who is on the volunteer staff of a museum in Tokyo devoted to the study and documentation of the Holocaust. One of the artifacts collected by the museum was a suitcase bearing the name "Hana Brady" that had been found in the wreckage of the Auschwitz death camp. One of Ishoika's students asked who Hana Brady was, and she and a handful of her pupils decided to find out. In time, they uncovered the tragic story of Hana and her brother George, two Jewish youngsters from Czechoslovakia who were separated from their family during the Nazi pogrom and found themselves inmates at one of the most notorious German death camps. Author Karen Levine told Hana's true story in the bestseller Hana's Suitcase, and filmmaker Larry Weinstein has brought the story to the screen in the documentary Inside Hana's Suitcase, which uses photos, interviews and reenactments to recount the tale of Hana's sad fate and George's survival. Inside Hana's Suitcase was an official selection at the 2009 Hot Docs International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An ex-convict is mysteriously drawn to two intriguing women after becoming involved in a car accident while passing through a sleepy Ontario town in director Marc Evans' enigmatic drama. Invited into the home of high-functioning autistic Linda (Sigourney Weaver) after getting into a car accident that involved Linda's daughter, ex-con Alex Hughes (Alan Rickman) does his best to gracefully accept Linda's selfless generosity. His situation grows increasingly complicated, however, when Alex finds the seductive allure of town sexpot Maggie (Carrie-Anne Moss) too powerful to resist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra gets a new lease on life when new music director Peter Oundjian steps on board, and music lovers get to see a firsthand account of the creative firestorm that follows in this documentary from filmmaker Barbara Willis Sweete. A former classical violinist who studied under Itzhak Perlman before being forced down another path by a career-ending injury, the charismatic Oundjian caringly utilizes innovation, collaboration skills, and vast musical knowledge to steer the troubled orchestra back into calm waters while providing the musicians with the inspiration needed to truly refine their skills. In this feature documenting the early days of Oundjian's career with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, interviews with the musicians, candid footage, and performance footage all combine to tell the tale of a one man's tireless efforts to coax beauty from the edge of a deep abyss, and the creativity that it inspired. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide