Charlotte Salomon, voiced by Keira Knightley, in a scene from “Charlotte.” (Screenshot from YouTube)

(JTA) — Keira Knightley is lending her voice to an animated film on the story of Charlotte Salomon, a German-Jewish painter who produced hundreds of works in hiding during World War II before being deported to Auschwitz.

“Charlotte,” set for release in theaters on April 22, follows Salomon from her early years growing up in Berlin, her aspirations to become a great artist and her escape to the south of France where she lived until her deportation and death.

While in hiding with her family, she painted approximately 800 works, which became an autobiographical series titled “Life? or Theater?: A Song-play.” Amsterdam’s Jewish Historical Museum showcased them all in a 2018 exhibition, which it has kept online in digital form. (The museum previously showed many of them in 1981 as well.)

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The works were inspired by her own life, which was full of tragedy before the Holocaust — several family members had committed suicide. In hiding, her grandfather turned predatorial, and she poisoned him, admitting the deed in a 35-page letter.

“Only by doing something mad can I hope to stay sane,” says an animated Salomon, voiced by the two-time Academy Award nominee Knightley, in a released clip from the film.

Her paintings were saved by family members who survived the war.

The film also stars Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent, Academy Award nominee Brenda Blethyn, Sam Claflin, Eddie Marsan, the late Helen McCrory, Academy Award nominee Sophie Okonedo and Mark Strong.

Read more about Salomon’s life on the Jewish Women’s Archive.

—
The post Keira Knightley to voice German-Jewish painter Charlotte Salomon, who died in Auschwitz, for animated film appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re in the middle of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 22.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount