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A universal tale of oppression Kids escaping 2 kinds of horror form bond in Randolph man's film Thursday, March 29, 2007 BY NICK LIOUDIS Star-Ledger Staff As Joel Dunn made his way through the Majdanek concentration camp during a trip to Poland three years ago, the stale air and dingy walls of the gas chambers re minded him of the feelings of despair and sadness the victims of the Holocaust endured many decades ago. It was a day that could not go ignored for Dunn, a New York University film student and Randolph native, who decided to use his experiences in Poland to create a short film called "Escape From the Fire," an account of Avi Milner's escape from a concentration camp during World War II inspired by "Maus," Art Spiegelman's graphic novel about the Holocaust. The film takes place in 1943 Poland and focuses on the encounter between two 8-year-old children, a Jewish boy and a Polish girl, played by actors Jordan Goldberg of Frankling Lakes and Al lison Sparrow of Haddonfield. The pair crossed paths in the young girl's barn where the boy is hiding from German soldiers and the girl seeks solace from her abusive father. "The essence of the film is the bond that forms between the two characters," said the 21-year-old Dunn. But more importantly, Dunn said, the film is about tolerance and throwing away the social stigmas that cause prejudice. Since neither of the children can speak the other's language, they are forced to communicate non-verbally, and there is no dialogue in the 15-minute film. "It's a cool element of the film," he said. "We really wanted their actions to speak louder than their words." Dunn chose Fosterfields Living Historical Farm in Morris Township as the film's setting. The working farm was bequeathed to the Morris County Parks Commission in 1979 by its owner, Caroline Foster, and has been used for educational purposes as well as the setting for many History Channel programs. NYU students Daniel Spence and Kiri Carch, both 19, were approached by Dunn to help co-produce the short film. Spence said he had past experiences producing war films, but nothing like Dunn's piece. "What I liked is that it didn't have much to do with the concentration camp (itself)... It was about the horrors of the world that aren't the Holocaust," he said. Stence said that aside from the film's original setting, he admired Dunn's dedication to making a film about two children as opposed to two adults. "I was happy to be part of the film," he said. "I was really moved by the film and how it was personal for him." To fund the film, Dunn and his co-producers raised more than $35,000 from numerous sources, including undisclosed amounts from actor Ben Stiller and longtime Steven Spielberg producer Kathleen Kennedy. Filming is now finished, and editing should be completed by the middle of next month. Dunn plans to organize public screenings of the film and distribute it to a number of film festivals around the nation. His movie's Web site, www.escapefromthefire.com, details the film's progress and gives some background on why Dunn chose to create the film. The director said that despite the film's World War II setting, his story could describe any modern- day scenario. "The themes of this film are really universal in nature," he said. "You can take the themes of this film and relate them to any big conflict where people are being op pressed." Nick Lioudis may be reached at nlioudis@starledger.com or (973) 539-7910. << Back