Watch The Last Flight of Petr Ginz

The Last Flight of Petr Ginz is a 2012 documentary film directed by Sandy Dickson and produced by Honey-Bracelet Productions. The film is about Petr Ginz, a young Jewish boy who was born in Prague in 1928 and who loved drawing, writing and astronomy. The movie tells his story through animations, historical footage, and interviews with his family and friends.

The film starts with the beautiful artwork and magical imagination of Petr Ginz. The animation in the film is inspired by these drawings and animations of Ginz himself. These animations take the audience on a journey of the illustrator’s imagination, causing them to see an artistic version of Petr Ginz’s own understanding of the world. These beautiful and captivating sequences are interspersed with historical footage and interviews with witnesses, who tell the young boy’s story.

The footage is accompanied by a delicate score which fits the tone of the film perfectly. It inspires the viewers of the film to get lost in the rich imagination of Ginz and become immersed in his dreamworld.

The movie then shows the events which led to the tragic loss of Ginz’s life, illuminating the Holocaust in a heartbreaking and unique way. Jewish families all over Europe were living through the horrors of the Hitler regime, and in early 1942, Petr’s parents were deported to the Terezin ghetto, later to be sent to a concentration camp. The young Ginz was left behind and had to live with the family’s non-Jewish friends. Petr refused to believe his parents were gone and kept hoping for a miracle. The last letter he wrote to his family was dripping in hope and optimism, but this would soon change.

Petr’s desire to defy his circumstance was unwavering, and in the Terezin ghetto, he continued to fuel his love for learning and art. Unbeknown to his captors, Petr had managed to smuggle out some of his drawings and written works. Some of his most significant works include “Moon Landscape,” which was sent on the Columbia mission by an astronaut in 2003, and the “diary” which chronicled his experiences during the occupation of his beloved city.

Petr never escaped the regime’s grasp, and in 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz as one of the younger children. Many of the people who personally knew Petr and who witnessed the atrocities of the Holocaust provide the filmmakers with more in-depth insights, providing a touching human dimension to the story.

In one of the interviews, Petr’s sister, Chava, recalls her brother’s life and the transition to his untimely death. Their conversations, read aloud by her in the film, were especially poignant, conveying the compassion that Chava still feels for her brother. In another interview, Yehudit Shendar, the head of the Art Museum at Yad Vashem, explains the importance of Petr’s drawings for the world, speaking of them as a source of inspiration for people today. The words of Petr’s sister, along with those of the art historian, are beautifully intertwined with the historical footage and animation, creating a film which is both enriching and challenging.

The Last Flight of Petr Ginz is an emotional journey through an exceptional life. It highlights that the darkest times can harbor hope and that creative expression can transcend even the most systemic brutality. Audiences are compelled to honor both the life and legacy of Petr Ginz, a hero of the Holocaust who deserves respect and memorialization.

The Last Flight of Petr Ginz is a 2012 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 7 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 8.0.