or


[02/11/09 - 10:46 AM]
Academy Award(R) and Recent Golden Globe(R) Award Winner Anna Paquin Stars in "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler," a New "Hallmark Hall of Fame" Presentation to Be Broadcast Sunday, April 19 on the CBS Television Network
Marcia Gay Harden, Nathaniel Parker and Goran Visnjic also star in the project, which is based on the courageous true story of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Irena Sendler.

[via press release from CBS]

ACADEMY AWARD(R) AND RECENT GOLDEN GLOBE(R) AWARD WINNER ANNA PAQUIN STARS IN "THE COURAGEOUS HEART OF IRENA SENDLER," A NEW "HALLMARK HALL OF FAME" PRESENTATION TO BE BROADCAST SUNDAY, APRIL 19 ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

Based on the Courageous True Story of 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Irena Sendler, Who Is Credited with Saving the Lives of 2,500 Jewish Children during World War II

Academy Award� Winner and Nominee Marcia Gay Harden ("Pollock," "Mystic River"), Nathaniel Parker ("The Inspector Lynley Mysteries") and Goran Visnjic ("ER") Also Star

Academy Award� and Golden Globe� Award winner Anna Paquin ("The Piano," "True Blood") stars in THE COURAGEOUS HEART OF IRENA SENDLER, a new "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation to be broadcast Sunday, April 19 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The drama is based on the courageous true story of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Irena Sendler (Paquin), who is credited with saving the lives of 2,500 Jewish children during World War II. Academy Award� winner and nominee Marcia Gay Harden ("Pollock," "Mystic River"), Nathaniel Parker ("The Inspector Lynley Mysteries") and Goran Visnjic ("ER") also star. Harden plays Sendler's mother, Janina, and Parker portrays Dr. Majkowski, the head of Warsaw's Department of Health who helped Sendler obtain important resources for her mission. Visnjic plays Stefan, a former university friend of Sendler who was Jewish and with whom she fell in love when she started her clandestine work in the Warsaw ghetto.

As a Polish Catholic social worker in the early 1940s, Irena Sendler created and led a conspiracy of women who moved in and out of Warsaw's Jewish Ghetto disguised as nurses employed by Warsaw's Health Department. Though they worked under the guise of merely attempting to prevent and contain the spread of Typhus and Spotted Fever, Sendler and her brave cohorts emerged each time with the children of consenting Jewish parents. The children were sometimes sedated and hidden inside boxes, suitcases and coffins as a means of rescuing them from their imminent deportation to death camps. They were given new identities and placed with Polish families and in convents. Sendler kept a hidden record of their birth names and where they were placed with the hope that they would some day be reunited with their own families.

In 1943, the Nazis discovered Sendler's daring and dangerous ruse and arrested her. She was tortured by Gestapo agents and suffered broken feet. On the day of her scheduled execution she was rescued by "Zegota," the underground network with which she worked to save the Jewish children.

As a result of Sendler's efforts, approximately 2,500 children were smuggled to safety. Not a single child she rescued was ever betrayed or discovered by the Nazis.

The movie is based on the authorized biography of the heroine, Mother of the Children of the Holocaust: The Irena Sendler Story, by Anna Mieszkowska, published in 2005.

In 2007 Sendler was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. That same year, Hallmark Hall of Fame acquired exclusive movie rights to the book and negotiated life-rights with Sendler and her family members. Sendler died on May 12, 2008 at the age of 98.

Anna Paquin won an Academy Award� for Best Supporting Actress at age 11 for her role in "The Piano." Her additional film credits include her recurring role as Rogue in "X-Men" and its two sequels, as well as roles in "The Squid and the Whale," "25th Hour," "Buffalo Soldiers," "Finding Forester," "Almost Famous," "Hurlyburly," "She's All That," "A Walk on the Moon," "Amistad," "All the Rage," "Fly Away Home," Franco Zeffirelli's "Jane Eyre" and "Blue State." Paquin's television credits include a lead role in the series "True Blood," for which she recently won a Golden Globe� Award, and an Emmy� nominated role in the movie "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." Among her theater credits are her stage debut in "The Glory of Living" at New York's MCC Theater, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination as Best Lead Actress. She was also in the first West End production of "This Is Our Youth."

Marcia Gay Harden won an Academy Award� as Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Pollock." Among her additional film credits are "Mystic River," for which she earned an Academy Award� nomination, "Miller's Crossing," "The First Wives Club," "Meet Joe Black," "Mona Lisa Smile," "The Hoax," "Into the Wild," "American Gun" and "Used People." Harden's television credits include her current lead role in the series "Damages," a lead role in the Network series "The Education of Max Bickford," an Emmy� nominated guest-starring role on "Law & Order: SVU," a role as Ava Gardner in the CBS mini-series "Sinatra" and a role in the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation "In From the Night," also on the Network. Her theater credits include "Angels in America," for which she earned a Tony Award� nomination and won the Drama Desk Award.

Nathaniel Parker's television credits include the title role in the BBC series "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries," which has had a 23 episode run between 2002 and 2007, the title role in the mini-series "David" and a starring role in the BBC mini-series "Bleak House." Among his film credits are "Hamlet," "The Bodyguard," "Stardust," "Beverly Hills Ninja," "The Haunted Mansion," "Flawless" and "War Requiem." Parker joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1986 and appeared in several of their productions, including "Richard II" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Subsequent West End stage credits include David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" as well as a recent U.K. touring production of Simon Gray's "Quartermaine's Terms."

Goran Visnjic is well-known for his role as Dr. Luka Kovac on the series "ER." He also starred in the mini-series "Spartacus." His film credits include "Elektra," "The Deep End," "Committed," "Practical Magic," "Welcome to Sarajevo" and "Rounders." His upcoming films include "Helen," which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and the anthology film "New York, I Love You."

THE COURAGEOUS HEART OF IRENA SENDLER is a Hallmark Hall of Fame production. Brent Shields ("Hallmark Hall of Fame" productions "Front of the Class" and "The Russell Girl") and Jeff Most ("The Specialist") are executive producers. John Kent Harrison ("Hallmark Hall of Fame" productions "The Water Is Wide" and "What the Deaf Man Heard") is the writer/director.





  [february 2009]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE (HBO)
· COURAGEOUS HEART OF IRENA SENDLER, THE (CBS)
· DAMAGES (AUDIENCE)
· EDUCATION OF MAX BICKFORD, THE (CBS)
· ER (NBC)
· FRONT OF THE CLASS (CBS)
· IN FROM THE NIGHT (CBS)
· LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT (NBC)
· RUSSELL GIRL, THE (CBS)
· SPARTACUS (USA)
· TRUE BLOOD (HBO)
· WATER IS WIDE (CBS)





[04/07/25 - 10:00 AM]
HBO Documentary Films Presents "The Dark Money Game" Featuring Two Films, "Ohio Confidential" and "Wealth of the Wicked," Debuting April 15 & 16
The films investigate the shadowy world of political donations and fundraising 15 years after the Supreme Court's decision in the Citizen's United case, which enabled unlimited spending by hidden sources on many political campaigns.

[04/07/25 - 09:31 AM]
The Sabotage Game Is Back in "Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out" Where Culinary Skills Meet Culinary Curveballs
The nine-episode series premieres on Tuesday, May 13 at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network, and streams next day on Max.

[04/07/25 - 09:00 AM]
Prime Video Releases Key Art for Benito Skinner's Comedy Series "Overcompensating"
The comedy series, produced by A24, Strong Baby and Amazon MGM Studios, will premiere all eight episodes on May 15 on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

[04/07/25 - 08:30 AM]
Quirky New Zealand Crime Drama, "The Brokenwood Mysteries," Returns to Acorn TV on Monday, April 21
Starring Neill Rea as Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd and Fern Sutherland as by-the-book Detective Kristin Sims, the captivating series sees the formidable duo and their team investigate crimes in the sleepy and secret-filled town of Brokenwood, New Zealand.

[04/07/25 - 08:04 AM]
Three Mothers United by Tragedy Share Their Heart-Wrenching Journey for Answers in "The Bakersfield 3: A Tale of Murder and Motherhood"
The three-part docuseries will premiere on Sunday, May 11 from 8-11pm ET/PT on ID and will stream on Max.

[04/07/25 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "Havoc" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When a drug heist swerves lethally out of control, a jaded cop fights his way through a corrupt city's criminal underworld to save a politician's son.

[04/07/25 - 07:04 AM]
Acorn TV Greenlights Brooke Shields Crime Drama "Allie & Andi"
Set in a quaint New England colonial town, the six-episode murder mystery series follows a bestselling novelist (Shields) who forms an unlikely alliance with an aspiring writer and influencer to find the killer of a close friend.

[04/07/25 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Battle Camp" - Official Trailer - Netflix
In "Battle Camp," the greatest stars from across Netflix's broad slate of reality and doc-series return to face the ultimate physical and mental competition, where a giant spinning wheel randomly decides who stays and who goes.

[04/07/25 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "G20" - Final Trailer - Prime Video
When the G20 summit comes under siege, U.S. President Danielle Sutton (Academy Award winner Viola Davis) becomes the number one target.

[04/07/25 - 06:00 AM]
Video: Apple TV+ Debuts Trailer for Second Installment of Animated Trilogy "WondLa"
Hailing from Skydance Animation and based on Tony DiTerlizzi's New York Times bestselling book series "The Search for WondLa," the series is showrun and executive produced by Bobs Gannaway.

[04/06/25 - 05:31 PM]
Video: Coming Soon to Max
Really slumming it this year. All of your favorite original series, documentaries, and more are coming soon to Max.

[04/04/25 - 10:48 AM]
Video: Watch A First Look - ID's "All Access PD: Grand Rapids" Premieres Tuesday, April 8 at 10/9c on ID
The new series offers unprecedented access to the inner workings of the Grand Rapids Police Department.

[04/04/25 - 10:32 AM]
New Season of "Gold Rush: White Water" Premieres Friday, April 25 at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel
Last year, Dustin Hurt's crew struck a 6-ounce, $70K nugget - the biggest in Gold Rush history. This season, he's risking everything for more.

[04/04/25 - 09:01 AM]
Hit the Gas! Prime Video Releases Premiere Date and First-Look Images for Electrifying New YA Drama "Motorheads"
All 10 episodes will debut exclusively on Prime Video on Tuesday, May 20 in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

[04/04/25 - 08:31 AM]
Peacock Exclusively Streams Blumhouse's "Wolf Man" Beginning April 18
Directed by acclaimed horror filmmaker Leigh Whannell, the film stars Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Sam Jaeger, Matilda Firth, Benedict Hardie and more.