INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY 2025

The documentary Liliana retraces the testimony of Senator-for-life Liliana Segre, focusing on her arrest, deportation, and her poignant final goodbye to her father. The film combines the historical narrative with a contemporary portrayal of one of Italy’s most significant figures. It sheds light on lesser-known aspects of Segre’s life, revealing a modern, passionate cultural and political figure committed to passing on a message of freedom and equality to younger generations.

The narrative is enriched by the voices of those close to her: her children, grandchildren, and prominent public figures like Ferruccio de Bortoli, Mario Monti, Geppi Cucciari, Fabio Fazio, and Enrico Mentana, as well as the Carabinieri who provide her security. Together, they reveal a more intimate and private Liliana.

This collective voice delves into themes of discrimination, arrest, deportation, extermination, liberation, post-Auschwitz life, depression, testimony, and political experience. Over the last few decades, Senator Segre has consistently borne witness, starting with her 1994 interview with Liliana Picciotto. These recordings, preserved by the CDEC (Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea / Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation), form a rich archive that provides rare and unpublished materials around which the film builds its narrative.

YAEL LUTTWAK, Artistic Director, JxJ DC Jewish Film & Music Festival
Yael Luttwak is the Artistic Director of JxJ and year-round programming. Prior to this role, she worked as a programming producer at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Her work, spanning digital and live content, has consistently focused on Holocaust remembrance with the aim of raising awareness of human rights and violations thereof. As a filmmaker, she has won six awards for social documentaries. Born in Washington, she attended the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School and graduated from the University of Rochester and the London Film School.

RUGGERO GABBAI, Director
Ruggero Gabbai studied film directing at Columbia University, graduating in 1993. He collaborated with renowned directors like Milos Forman, Emir Kusturica, and Martin Scorsese. He has directed over 25 documentaries covering a wide range of subjects. For Holocaust Remembrance Day 2022, the Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute organized a screening of his film Kinderblock, produced by the Rome Holocaust Museum Foundation in collaboration with Rai Cinema.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY

2021 Kinderblock - on the stories of four children who not only went through Auschwitz, but also encountered the monstrous experiments of Dr. Mengele.
2018 La Razzia, Roma 16 ottobre 1943 – on the violent raid that led to the deportation of over 1,000 Italian Jews.
2018 Being Missoni – on the family and unique style of the Missoni fashion brand, broadcast on Sky Arte.
2017 Libia, l'ultimo esodo – On the thriving Jewish community in Libya and Tripoli.
2016 Ricominciare da capo – About the exodus of Jews from Egypt between 1948 and 1956.
2016 CityZEN – about the notorious ZEN neighborhood in Palermo.
2013 The Longest Journey – on the deportation of Italian Jews from Rhodes to Auschwitz.
2008-2009 IO RICORDO – A docu-fiction based on the testimonies of relatives of Sicilian Mafia victims.
1997 Memoria – Filmed at Auschwitz, selected for the Berlin Film Festival, and winner of numerous awards.
1993-1994 The King of Crown Heights – His first documentary, aired in prime time on PBS America and distributed worldwide.

LILIANA

SCREENING OF THE DOCUFILM ON THE LIFE ON SEN. LILIANA SEGRE BY RUGGERO GABBAI