...As If They Were Angels

Two months after Pearl Harbor and the US entry into World War II, a pair of destroyers escorted a supply ship through the treacherous North Atlantic to a base in Newfoundland. A nasty storm, combined with an officer’s reluctance to trust his experienced navigator and newfangled radar, ran two of the ships aground on the rocks of adjacent coves. More than 200 sailors on the Pollux and the Truxton lost their lives, but nearly as many were rescued by local miners and townspeople. Director Terry Strauss, whose father was one of the survivors, plumbs a trove of photographs, documents, drawings, and interviews to recount a moving story of sacrifice, endurance, and heroism. The film hits an emotional peak with footage of the 1988 reunion between the American survivors and the Canadian townspeople who saved and cared for them. Peter Coyote narrates this remarkable saga with a blend of tender empathy and palpable amazement.

Expected Guests: Director Terry Strauss; Cinematographer Barry Schienberg; Editor Lou Wirth; Crew Phoebe Wall Howard, Sasha White (All Screenings); Talent Peter Coyote (Oct. 11)