
Official Movie Poster / Quiver Distribution
CV NEWS FEED // A new movie about a pro-life woman of faith will hit theaters across the U.S. on April 15 and 16.
“Irena’s Vow” tells the story of Irena Gut, a Polish Catholic nurse who risked her life to help hide Jews during World War II, according to an April 3 news release.
“Irena’s Vow is a movie that should be seen by every Catholic and anyone of good will,” said Bishop David Kagan of the Diocese of Bismarck, in North Dakota. “It is a compelling and true story of one woman’s faith and perseverance in the face of incredible evil. It is a movie which will inspire one to be truly a defender of human life and an advocate for the peace which only Christ can give. Irena’s Vow shows us that the Lord does not abandon us and strengthens us to persevere in good works no matter what.”
Quiver Distribution and Fathom Events will release the movie, which is directed by Louise Archambault and stars Sophie Nélisse (“Yellowjackets,” “47 Meters Down: Uncaged”), Dougray Scott (“Mission: Impossible 2” and “Batwoman”), Andrzej Seweryn (“Schindler’s List”) and Maciej Nawrocki (“Banksters”). Nélisse portrays Gut in the movie, which was written by Dan Gordon, who wrote the Broadway play by the same name, “Wyatt Earp,” “Passenger 57” and “The Hurricane.”
The movie shows how Gut, who became a housekeeper of a highly respected Nazi officer, finds out that the Jewish ghetto is about to be “liquidated” and decides to shelter them in the officer’s basement, the release said.
“Over the next two years, Irena used her wit, humor, and courage to hide her friends until the end of the German occupation, concealing them amid countless Nazi parties, a blackmail scheme, and even the birth of a child,” the release said.
Gordon said in the release that he wants people to know that the movie is “a true story of faith.”
“It’s the story of a young girl into whose hand God placed the lives of twelve people and one unborn child, and she in turn put all their lives, with perfect faith, into the hand of God the Creator,” Gordon said. “And there they were all perfectly safe.”
Catholic filmmakers Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, who created the movie “Unplanned” to tell the story of former abortion clinic worker Abby Johnson, said that “Irena’s Vow” is a movie that “the people of God, who face an uncertain future of their own,” must see.
Jenna Guizar, who founded Blessed is She, is among those who have said Gut was heroic.
“Her selflessness in saving lives, her perseverance even in the worst of circumstances, her love in the face of the ugliest of humanity inspires all to live a life in humility and generosity,” Guizar said in the release.
Columbia University Campus Chaplain Fr. Roger Landry said in the release that like “Schindler’s List” did, the movie will change people who see it.
“Irena Gut shows us how one good person, then and now, can overcome evil, especially the evil of anti-Semitism, by courageously doing something,” Fr. Landry said.
Organizations, entities and countries that have recognized Gut’s contributions include the Vatican, Israel, Poland, the Israeli Holocaust Commission, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Anti-Defamation League.
Video footage of people who were part of the movie production or Gut’s work will accompany the movie screenings. To watch the trailer, see the list of participating theater locations and purchase tickets, go to www.FathomEvents.com.
Collider interviewed Archambault, Nélisse and Scott about making the movie. That interview is here.