- By Arlene Winnick
A friend recently shared a very personal and uplifting documentary – An Inconvenient Time (www.aninconvenienttime.com). It’s the true story of Ruth Ravina and sets a new standard for female empowerment, human resilience and ingenuity during a complex and difficult time in our history. This remarkable journey of the human spirit takes place in the 1930’s as World War II begins across Europe and became very personal for Denny Klein, the film’s director and producer who was introduced to Ruth Ravina by his daughters as part of their community service work. “I immediately knew that these recollections of a young child were so unique and special it demanded to be filmed,” remarked Klein.
Though Ruth’s story of survival contains many twists of fate and acts of random kindness that literally save her life as she is shuffled from one concentration camp to another, her mother Paula is the true heroine of this adventure story. She was a woman ahead of her time as she ran the family business. In the camps she always gave Ruth a daily assignment from learning the multiplication tables to memorizing poems by famous Jewish poets. Ruth raised a family and continued to spread kindness overcoming but never forgetting her childhood.
“An Inconvenient Time” is a relevant story with an important positive message for today’s turbulent times. The documentary will be streamed via the Loudoun Arts Festival.