AP

Bidens show ‘The Survivor’ for Holocaust Remembrance Week

Apr 28, 2022, 10:08 AM | Updated: Apr 29, 2022, 8:54 am

This image released by HBO shows Ben Foster as Harry Haft in a scene from "The Survivor." President...

This image released by HBO shows Ben Foster as Harry Haft in a scene from "The Survivor." President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were set to host their first official film screening at the White House on Thursday. The Bidens will show HBO’s “The Survivor,” in honor of Yom HaShoah and Holocaust Remembrance Week, in the White House movie theater on the ground floor of the East Wing. (Jessica Kourkounis/HBO via AP)

(Jessica Kourkounis/HBO via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden hosted their first official film screening at the White House on Thursday.

The Bidens showed HBO’s “The Survivor,” in honor of Yom HaShoah and Holocaust Remembrance Week, in the White House movie theater on the ground floor of the East Wing.

The film tells the story of boxer Harry Haft, who put the lives of fellow concentration camp prisoners at risk to save his own. The movie dramatizes Haft’s experience in Auschwitz, a central part of the Nazi death camp system.

An estimated 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz in German-occupied Poland and at least 1.1 million died, according to its museum and memorial website.

Director Barry Levinson, actor Ben Foster, who plays Haft, the film’s producers and representatives of the American Jewish Community were invited to attend, the White House said.

HBO debuted “The Survivor” on Wednesday to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day. The film honors the 6 million Jews who died as part of Nazi Germany’s mass murder of European Jews.

The White House movie theater dates to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had a cloakroom in the East Wing converted into a theater, where he watched newsreels, including of World War II battles being fought in Europe and Asia.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


              FILE - From left to right, Helene Stancato, Alan Scott Haft, holding a photograph of his father Harry Haft, and actor Kingston Vernes pose for a photograph on the red carpet for the film, "The Survivor," at Roy Thomson Hall during the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 13, 2021, in Toronto. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were set to host their first official film screening at the White House on Thursday. The Bidens will show HBO’s “The Survivor,” in honor of Yom HaShoah and Holocaust Remembrance Week.  (Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
            
              This image released by HBO shows Ben Foster as Harry Haft in a scene from "The Survivor." President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were set to host their first official film screening at the White House on Thursday. The Bidens will show HBO’s “The Survivor,” in honor of Yom HaShoah and Holocaust Remembrance Week, in the White House movie theater on the ground floor of the East Wing. (Jessica Kourkounis/HBO via AP)
            This image released by HBO shows Ben Foster as concentration camp prisoner Harry Haft, left, and Billy Magnussen in a scene from "The Survivor." President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were set to host their first official film screening at the White House on Thursday. The Bidens will show HBO's "The Survivor," in honor of Yom HaShoah and Holocaust Remembrance Week, in the White House movie theater on the ground floor of the East Wing. (Leo Pinter/HBO via AP)

AP

Ray Epps Ray Epps, an Arizona man who became the center of a conspiracy theory about Jan. 6, 2021, ...

Associated Press

Ray Epps, an Arizona man who supported Trump, pleads guilty to Capital riot charge

Ray Epps, the target of a conspiracy theory about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge.

2 days ago

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, to ...

Associated Press

Trump refuses to say in a TV interview how he watched the Jan. 6 attack unfold at the US Capitol

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday to answer questions about whether he watched the Capitol riot.

5 days ago

This frame grab from video, provided by the Mexican government, shows Ovidio Guzman Lopez being det...

Associated Press

Mexico extradites son of ‘El Chapo,’ Ovidio Guzman Lopez to US

The son of notorious cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, Ovidio Guzman Lopez was extradited to the U.S. on Friday.

5 days ago

impeachments in US history...

Associated Press

A look at notable impeachments in US history, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was acquitted Saturday on during his impeachment trial. Here's a roundup of impeachments in U.S. history.

6 days ago

The sticker price is displayed in the window of an unsold 2023 Navigator sports-utility vehicle at ...

Associated Press

The auto workers strike will drive up car prices, but not right away — unless consumers panic

Car shoppers are heading for a new round of sticker shock if the strike by the United Auto Workers doesn’t end soon, officials say.

6 days ago

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announces an order restricting people from carrying guns in Bernalillo ...

Associated Press

Group sues after New Mexico governor suspends right to carry guns in Albuquerque in public

The New Mexico governor's emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public near Albuquerque drew an immediate court challenge.

12 days ago

Sponsored Articles

...

DAY & NIGHT AIR CONDITIONING, HEATING AND PLUMBING

Importance of AC maintenance after Arizona’s excruciating heat wave

An air conditioning unit in Phoenix is vital to living a comfortable life inside, away from triple-digit heat.

...

Ability360

At Ability360, every day is Independence Day

With 100 different programs and services, more than 1,500 non-medically based home care staff, a world-renowned Sports & Fitness Center and over 15,000 people with disabilities served annually, across all ages and demographics, Ability360 is a nationwide leader in the disability community.

...

SANDERSON FORD

Thank you to Al McCoy for 51 years as voice of the Phoenix Suns

Sanderson Ford wants to share its thanks to Al McCoy for the impact he made in the Valley for more than a half-decade.

Bidens show ‘The Survivor’ for Holocaust Remembrance Week