Fugitive Pieces

Streaming video - 2007

A powerful and unforgettably lyrical film about love, loss and redemption, FUGITIVE PIECES tells the story of Jakob Beer, a man whose life is transformed by his childhood experiences during WWII. The film is based on the beloved and best-selling novel by Canadian poet Anne Michaels.. Jakob’s story begins in Poland in 1942, when he is nine years old. Nazi soldiers have murdered his parents and abducted his teenage sister, Bella. Traumatized by this horrific event, Jakob sneaks out of his hiding place and struggles to survive. He is found by Athos Rouses, a Greek archaeologist working at a Polish dig site in Biskupin. Moved by the child’s plight, Athos boldly smuggles Jakob out of Poland and hides him in his home on the island of Zakyntho...s in Greece, also occupied by the Germans. After the war, Athos and Jakob immigrate to Canada.. As he matures, Jakob (Stephen Dillane) begins a new life, studying, writing, and eventually falling in love with Alex (Rosamund Pike), a beautiful young woman. Yet he remains haunted by his parents' death and the question of his sister's fate. This terrible burden makes it impossible for him to live in the moment or to accept love when it is offered to him. Writing offers some relief, but it is not until he meets Michaela, a gentle soul who truly understands -- and accepts -- his pain, that Jakob allows himself to join the living.. Winner of Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Newport Beach Film Festival.. "Nuanced, scrupulous and powerful." - Joshua Land, Time Out more