Award-winning The Labyrinth documentary to screen at 2011 Palm Springs Intl. ShortFest (June 21-27)

Award-winning documentary The Labyrinth, about Polish Catholic Auschwitz survivor Marian Kolodziej, screens at 2011 Palm Springs ShortFest (June 21-27). End Quote

(1888PressRelease) May 18, 2011 - Hollywood, CA - The Labyrinth, the award-winning 37-minute documentary short on Polish Catholic artist and Auschwitz survivor Marian Kolodziej by award-winning documentary filmmaker Jason A. Schmidt, which received its world premiere at IDA DocuWeeks 2010 in Hollywood, will screen at the 2011 Palm Springs Int'l ShortFest (June 21-27), Palm Springs, CA. For information on tickets and screening location, please visit: www.psfilmfest.org.

The Labyrinth received its world premiere on August 13th, 2010 at the International Documentary Association's 14th Annual DocuWeeks™ Shorts 2010 Theatrical Documentary Showcase, Hollywood, CA. The award-winning documentary film is the recipient of Reel Rose Award for Best Short Film (2011 John Paul II Film Festival; Miami, FL); The Redemptive Storytelling Award (2011 Redemptive Film Festival; Newport News, VA); and an Honorable Mention Award (2011 Los Angeles New Wave International Film Festival; Los Angeles, CA). The Labyrinth has previously screened at the 2010 Boston Film Festival; the 2010 Polish Film Festival of America (Los Angeles, CA); the 2010 Plus Camerimage Film Festival (Poland); the 2011 Santa Barbara International Film Festival; the 2011 Boulder International Film Festival (Boulder, CO); The 2011 Peace on Earth Film Festival (Chicago, IL); the 2011 Beverly Hills Film Festival (Beverly Hills, CA); the 2011 Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival (Tel Aviv, Israel, May 12-21, 2011).

"I built Auschwitz…because I arrived in the first transport." Memory, art and hell collide as an Auschwitz survivor finally confronts the horrors of his past after 50 years of silence. Marian Kolodziej, prisoner number 432, was 17 and on one of the first transports to enter Auschwitz on June 14, 1940. Kolodziej, a Polish Catholic, survived five years imprisonment and never spoke of his experience until after a serious stroke in 1993. He began physical rehabilitation by doing pen and ink drawings depicting his memories of that horrific experience at Auschwitz 50 years earlier. Kolodziej's drawings and art installations, which he called The Labyrinth, fill the large basement of a church near Auschwitz. In The Labyrinth, Kolodziej takes the audience on a journey through his drawings and art installations. Through the blending of his testimony and graphic drawings, we explore the memories and nightmares that were buried for years. The documentary is eyewitness testimony to the horrors of Auschwitz that is unique in the annals of documenting the Holocaust. Marian Koldziej's story of survival and persistence, of life before, during, and after Auschwitz is a testament to courage, the power of faith and the resilience of the human spirit.

December 2nd Productions was founded by Jason A. Schmidt in October 2004 to produce his first award-winning documentary On the Line. December 2nd has produced the award-winning short documentary Franz Jägerstätter: A Man of Conscience. December 2nd is in production on the feature documentary "432" http://www.432film.com. For more information on The Labyrinth, visit: www.thelabyrinthdocumentary.com. For more information on the 2011 Palm Springs Intl. ShortFest (June 21-27), please visit: www.psfilmfest.org.

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