No Place on Earth

No Place on Earth is a 2012 documentary film produced, written and directed by Janet Tobias, based on Esther Stermer's memoir We Fight to Survive. It was released theatrically in the United States on April 5, 2013.^[2][3]

No Place on Earth
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Janet Tobias
Written by	Janet Tobias Paul Laikin
Based on	We Fight to Survive by Esther Stermer
Produced by	Janet Tobias Susan Barnett Zita Kisgergely Paul Laikin Rafael Marmor Nadav Schirman
Starring	Chris Nicola Saul Stermer Sam Stermer Sonia Dodyk
Cinematography	César Charlone Eduard Grau Sean Kirby Peter Simonite
Edited by	Deidre Slevin Claus Wehlisch
Music by	John Piscitello
Distributed by	Magnolia Pictures
Release dates	September 10, 2012 (2012-09-10) (TIFF) April 5, 2013 (2013-04-05)
Running time	83 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom Germany United States
Languages	English German Yiddish
Box office	$200,238[1] (North America only)

Synopsis

In 1993, NYPD officer and caving enthusiast Chris Nicola visited Ukraine to explore the Verteba and Priest's Grotto caves, and found evidence that they had recently been inhabited by humans. After discovering that the caves were used by three Jewish families (Stermer, Dodyk, and Wexler), comprising 38 people, led by matriarch Esther Stermer (1888–1983), escaping the Holocaust, he embarked on a decade-long quest to find survivors. The film features interviews with some of the 36 survivors and/or their descendants, now living mainly in New York City and Montreal. It includes a segment in which Tobias brings some of the survivors, the oldest of whom was a nonagenarian, back to the caves.^[4]

Release

The film was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Hamptons International Film Festival, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, and the Jewish Film Festival Berlin.

Accolades

Its screenwriters, Janet Tobias and Paul Laikin, were nominated for Best Documentary Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America.^[5][6]

Cast

• Chris Nicola as himself
• Saul Stermer as himself
• Sam Stermer as himself
• Sonia Dodyk as herself
• Sima Dodyk as herself
• Yetta Stermer as herself
• Sol Wexler as himself
• Erin Grunstein Halpern as herself
• Cliff Stermer as himself
• Katalin Lábán as Esther Stermer
• Péter Balázs Kiss as Saul Stermer
• Dániel Hegedüs as Sol Wexler
• Balázs Barna Hídvégi as Nissel Stermer
• Fruzsina Pelikán as Sonia Dodyk
• András Orosz as Sam Stermer
• Mira Bonelli as Sima Dodyk
• Nóra Kovács as Yetta Stermer
• Viktória Szilágyi as Henia Stermer
• Bernadett Sára Borlai as Hannah Stermer
• Péter Zsömbelyi as Zaide Stermer
• Norbert Gogan as Louie Wexler

References

1. "No Place on Earth (2013)". Box Office Mojo. 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
2. "No Place On Earth". Magnolia Pictures. February 19, 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
3. Elizabeth Horkley (2013-04-26). "The story of two Jewish families who lived in caves to escape Nazis". Philly.com. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
4. Derviskadic, Dado (March 18, 2013). "511 Days of Total Darkness: The Incredible True Story Behind the Documentary No Place on Earth". TheCredits.org. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
5. "Writers Guild Awards". Archived from the original on September 1, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
6. "The Stermers - Dig Deeper - No Place On Earth". Noplaceonearthfilm.com. Retrieved 2017-07-01.

External links

• Official website
• No Place on Earth at IMDb
• No Place on Earth at Rotten Tomatoes
• Review from Variety (September 9, 2012)
• Review at Roger's Movie Nation (February 24, 2013)