The Ship That Turned Back

Description

Official Selections
Toronto Jewish Film Festival
Cannes World Film Festival
Mill Valley Film Festival

Trailer

Synopsis

The Ship That Turned Back is a short documemory film that recounts acclaimed filmmaker Irving Saraf’s dramatic escape from Nazi-occupied Poland as a seven-year-old Jewish boy. Spanning September 1939 to July 1940, this refugee story traces Irving’s journey with his family from Łódź to Warsaw, through Austria and Italy, and finally onto a ship bound for Palestine, until Mussolini’s declaration of war forced it to turn back. Held captive at sea, the passengers were ultimately rescued by the British navy.

Anchored in Malta Bay, young Irving – then Ignacy – witnessed war erupting around him: planes overhead, bombs falling, torpedoes slicing through water like giant sharks. To the child, it was a surreal spectacle, war unfolding like a giant movie in the sky.

Based on Irving Saraf’s memoir and creatively reimagined by filmmaker Allie Light, the film blends memory, art, dramatic reenactments with family members, and expressive children’s drawings of key moments. Archival footage is woven into a deeply personal arc, combining the perspectives of the adult Irving and the child Ignacy. Irving’s grandchildren actively participate in the retelling, and interviews with now-deceased family members preserve their voices for future generations.

Set against the sweeping backdrop of world events, including the rise of fascism- The Ship That Turned Back explores how global history shapes individual lives. The child lives it; the adult remembers it.

Director

Allie Light

Allie Light is an Academy Award, and Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her credits include Rachel’s Daughters: Searching for the Causes of Breast Cancer (HBO); Dialogues With Madwomen (Emmy Award, Freedom of Expression Award – Sundance Film Festival); In the Shadow of the Stars (Academy Award); Mitsuye and Nellie: Asian American Poets; Visions of Paradise; Shakespeare’s Children; Blind Spot: Murder by Women; Children and Asthma; Good Food, Bad Food: Obesity in American Children; An Iraqi Lullaby; The Sermons of Sister Jane; Believing the Unbelievable; and Empress Hotel.

In 2018, Allie directed her first narrative film, Any Wednesday, which screened at festivals worldwide and aired on ShortsTV. The Ship That Turned Back is her final film, marking the close of an extraordinary career as she enjoys retirement.