“The Stairs”
A ten-year old boy hides at the top of a stairwell listening to his father tell his harrowing
story-a story about almost being gassed to death in a Nazi concentration camp.
He doesn’t dare ask his father to explain. His dad offers no further details.
Follow Mort Laitner’s journey from childhood to retirement as he obsesses about his father, the Holocaust, Judaism, and life. Laitner learns about his father’s nightmarish travels during World War II from his father’s Holocaust tapes, from books describing how he worked as a doctor in slave labor camps, from a doctoral thesis on Holocaust studies, and from a transcript of his father’s testimony at a US military tribunal which led to a Nazi commandant’s death sentence. Clue by clue, missing details come to light describing that fateful day when his father stood naked and faced the gas chamber. Read the remarkable story of how Wolf Laitner was sent to Russia with a unit of 349 fellow Jewish prisoners in disguise. They were given German military training and uniforms bearing swastikas, then sent to Russia during Operation Barbarossa to work on the railway system. Hitch a ride across America, Europe, Asia and Africa, from the 1950s through the new millennium as Mort Laitner shares his family’s stories about survival, prejudice, luck, love, and miracles.
SEE “THE STAIRS” World Premier on JUNE 25th, 2016 at 6PM
Join us on the red carpet for the World Premiere
Cinema Paradiso 503 SE 6th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Saturday, June 25 at 6:00 PM
Featuring a Q&A with screenwriter Mort Laitner
Meet and Greet at 5:30 PM in the Courtyard
RSVP at mortlaitner@bellsouth.net
Limited Seating–Reserve Your Seat Today
THE STAIRS
An independent film directed by Hakym Reagan
Produced by Blake Laitner and Mort Laitner
Cast: Dennis Fitzpatrick, David Poland, Anne Voxx, Daniel Timothy Treacy, Peter Glazer, Drew Thacher, Elizabeth Zimmerman, Max Albright
USA | 2016 |Short Drama | Not Rated | English with no subtitles
Donations accepted on behalf of the U.S. Holocaust Museum
Top Indie Film Awards Nominee
Constructed in 1926, Cinema Paradiso is South Florida’s most unique art-house theater
What the readers are saying:
Mazel-tov, Mort! You had an important story to tell, and you did it in print and film. Good for you! I am often in touch with Mel. The Leitners were important people in Zaglembie. My Dad used to live in a “Lajtner building” in Dabrowa Gornicza. Wolf Lajtner was a heroic doctor in a number of the forced labor camps. I wish you every success with this production.— Hannah
Gosh you should be so proud!— Elaine
Our best wishes for a successful premier! … Hope to see this film be an award winner!—
Bob and Sandi
Can’t wait!!!!! Red carpet, here I come!—Cami
Congratulations- what an accomplishment!—Judy
Dear Mort; Congratulations! It is a real achievement.—Ulrich
Wonderful news, Mort!—Lois
Congrats, Mort. How exciting.—Lynn
Lots of luck. With what I know it will be a great event!— Penny
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