Irena Sendler - PBS Documentary

PBS Documentary

American filmmaker Mary Skinner began working on a historical documentary film based on Irena Sendler's memoir as told to Anna Mieszkowska in 2003. Irena Sendler, In the Name of Their Mothers features the last long interviews Irena Sendler gave before she died. Also featured are three of Sendler's co-workers and several of the Jewish children they saved.

Filmed in Poland and the United States with Polish cinematographers Andrzej Wolf and Slawomir Grunberg, the film uses evocative location footage of Irena Sendler's wartime apartment, Żegota headquarters, Gestapo headquarters and the Pawiak Prison along with rare footage of the city during the German occupation to vividly re-create the events of Sendler's life. This is the first historical documentary made outside Poland to record the true story of Irena Sendler and the daring conspiracy of women who worked with her to save the children of the Warsaw ghetto.

Skinner recorded over 70 hours of interview material for the film and spent seven years consulting archives, historical experts, and eyewitnesses in the United States and Poland to uncover many unknown details about their operation. The film made its broadcast premiere on PBS in May 2011 in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, through KQED Presents. The DVD is distributed through PBS.