PRESS RELEASE, AUGUST 2000
Comforty Media Concepts is proud to announce:

First prize
Jerusalem International Film Festival

In the category of Documentaries
about the Jewish Experience on July 22, 2000.
for:

The Optimists
 A documentary film by
Jacky and Lisa Comforty

of

Comforty Media Concepts, Inc.
Evanston, IL

Director: Jacky Comforty

Producers: Jacky and Lisa Comforty

Writers: Jacky and Lisa Comforty

Editors: Jacky Comforty and Lissa Oliver

Fifty-thousand Jews lived in Bulgaria before World War II. All survived despite intensive Nazi efforts to deport them to death camps.  

  Fifty-thousand people didn't die because Bulgarian Christians and Muslims found ways to protect Jews from their would-be murderers. The documentary film, The Optimists, explores how these different ethnic and religious groups came to live together in peace in Bulgaria even during the Holocaust.

  Individuals and organizations made a difference. Ordinary people stood up for their Jewish friends and neighbors. The Church, certain Bulgarian Parliament members, Communists, trade unions, professional guilds, and the Jewish community all helped defeat the Nazis' plans for mass deportations despite the Bulgarian government's efforts to comply with those plans.

  Bulgaria's experience offers valuable insight into how we can mobilize to protect human rights and civil rights. It is not only a Jewish story. It is a universal one, powerful in its ability to inform and inspire all audiences.