Violins of Hope

As we move forward toward production, we're incorporating musical elements into our animation. We had the incredible honor to record violinist Marc Levine playing a piece composed by Minneapolis guitarist Tim Sparks. Marc is playing on a violin recovered from the Holocaust, which was part of the Violins of Hope exhibition that came to Minnesota in May and June.

Gail Rosenblum 7/27/23 Gail Rosenblum 7/27/23

Update VII: The blank faces

We might not end up using ‘blank faces’ in our film. They’re quite disturbing (though consistent with the nature of our subject matter). But we decided to experiment. Here’s why…

Gail Rosenblum 7/27/23 Gail Rosenblum 7/27/23

Update VI: Art Direction - Scene 22 & 27

Gail Rosenblum 7/27/23 Gail Rosenblum 7/27/23

Update V: The only historical figure mentioned by name in the film

He was an author, a medical doctor and the founder of progressive children's orphanages. Who could be?

Gail Rosenblum 7/27/23 Gail Rosenblum 7/27/23

Update IV: Art Direction - Scene 16

Do you know the reason why bakeries appear so often in Milkweed even though in reality bakeries were closed very quickly in Warsaw?

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Update III: Behind the Scenes

How much research goes into each scene?

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Update II: Art Direction - Who’s telling the story?

Gail Rosenblum 7/26/23 Gail Rosenblum 7/26/23

Update I : Art Direction - Scene 3, 9 & 10

We have gone through several rounds of screenplay adaptation and are now creating b&w illustrations for each scene of the script. Learn more through our updates about our creative process.

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Have you ever wondered… Why ‘Milkweed?’

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A conversation with Milkweed’s author Jerry Spinelli

“I never thought of writing about the Holocaust. I think it was because I didn’t have the credentials. I wasn’t Jewish, I wasn’t there, I didn’t know anybody that was there, and there were already maybe literally a million books that had been written on the Holocaust so, what right had I?”