Movie director, Tomasz Magierski and the film’s principal character, Yoram Jerzy Gross, will be present.

“Bliny & Me”

The untold story of Australian animator, Yoram Gross, comes to life in the film “BLINKY & ME”. The movie follows the artist and his family through his childhood in Nazi occupied Poland, to Israel, where he began creating animated art films, and then all the way to
Australia. In Australia he found fortune, home and happiness through his children’s animated feature films and his popular film series “BLINKY BILL”. “BLINKY & ME” is told with participation of his teenage grandchildren.

Yoram Gross continues to create with his 87-year-old youthful enthusiasm.

The film has won several awards: Best International Documentary, at the Chagrin Falls Film estival, 2013, the Audience Award Multimedia Happy End Film Festival, Rzeszow 2012, the Audience Award International Film Festival Jewish Motifs, Warszawa, 2012, the Bronze award at the Phoenix International Film Festival Jewish Motifs, Warszawa, 2012, Winner of the Best Film Audience Award, Prowincjonalia, Film Festival, Września 2012.

The trailer for the film can be watched on http://tomaszmagierski.com/blinky-me/

Yoram Gross

Yoram Gross, a legendary Australian animator was born in Kraków in 1926. His father owned a successful shop selling lamps, crystals and porcelain. When the war started his father managed to escape from Kraków but vanished into the hands of the Soviets.

Yoram was 14 when the Nazis announced Kraków to be a “Town free of Jews” in May of 1941. Together with his mother and three siblings, Yoram began his incredible war odyssey. For a while the family went into hiding in several friends’ apartments in Kraków. But Kraków became too small for the well-known family and they had to “change” their religion (acquiring papers identifying them as Christians) and soon escaped to Warsaw.

But life in Warsaw was no better. The family struggled and even had to pay a bribe to liberate Yoram’s sister from the hands of the German police. Yoram was eventually sent to the countryside by the Polish underground to continue his education in a school run by the polish Home Army. He became a member of Szare Szeregi (the Gray Army, a youth section of the Home Army).

After the liberation of Warsaw by the Soviets he met Władysław Szpilman (known from the movie “THE PIANIST”). Szpilman was running the recently opened Polish radio station and Yoram played his harmonica for him. In 1950 he moved to Israel and began to produce his
animated movies. In 1968 Yoram, his wife Sandra and their two-year old son Guy moved to Australia.

Yoram released the feature film “BLINKY BILL” in 1992 and organized the first Children’s Film Festival in Sydney, with all proceeds going to UNICEF. He has been making films ever since. http://www.yoramgrossfilms.com.au/

Tomasz Magierski, director/DP/Editor

Tomasz Magierski has directed a number of documentary films, most notably “THE MAGIC BROTHERS” a feature-length documentary on life under Communism, seen through the eyes of four brothers born in Poland in 1954. “THE MAGIC BROTHERS” opened the prestigious
First Look Film Festival in 1992, and was screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York the same year.

Several of his documentary films focus on issues of social justice. “FERRY 93” explores the situation of Polish refugees who emigrated to Sweden after martial law. ”BORDER” uncovers the manipulation used by city authorities in Hanover, Germany in order to discriminate against homeless people.

“PIANIST – DEFINING CHOPIN” (CANAL+ 2005) is a lively film following four young American pianists from different ethnic backgrounds, through each stage of the grueling thirty- day- long competition.

“MY FATHER THE LUO” (CANAL+ 2008) is a film about finding one’s identity. The main character is Roma Ndolo, a young woman who grew up in Germany with parents from Poland and Kenya. She had always longed to find out more about her “African side” so she traveled to her late father’s homeland where she recognized the parallels between her own life and that of President Barack Obama.

Tomasz Magierski was educated at the Film Academy of Łódź, Poland, where he majored in cinematography. He lives in New York City.
http://www.tomaszmagierski.com
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536070/ – Director

Anna Tarnawska, Journalist

Anna Tarnawska is a press and TV journalist. Her articles have been published in several papers and magazines in Poland including “Tygodnik Powszechny”, “Przekrój”, “Przegląd”, “Akcent”, “Gazeta Krakowska”. Currently she works for “Nowy Dziennik” Polish Daily News and Nowy Dziennik TV in New York. She also cooperates with QPTV.