As I mentioned last month, we have been working on a new Inheritance DVD, and today we are pleased to announce that it is now available on DVD in partnership with Create Space and Amazon.com.  We know the film is available in it’s entirety on-line right here, but with the DVD not only do you get a high quality image with none of the web artifacts, you’re also financially helping to further the education of the holocaust, because all proceeds from the sale after production and duplication fees will be donated to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.  Plus we intentionally didn’t include the normal DVD encryption  that prevents you from making copies so you can freely make additional copies of the DVD to share with friends, neighbors, and strangers.  It’s not about the money, it’s all about reminding people that this can not happen again.

Each DVD is only $10 and includes:

• Newly remastered film from the original source files and enhanced for playback on widescreen televisions
• Photo gallery featuring a sampling of Anthony Cuoco’s original photographs, including some not used in the film
• Digital copy of the original screenplay and press kit.
• No CSS copy protection.  We encourage you to make additional copies to spread the word.

Please help us remind the world that the holocaust was real by buying a copy now through the Not Afraid! Create space store.

64 Years ago today, April 11th, 1945, the US Army liberated the Buchenwald Concentration camp in Germany.    12 years ago,  my grandfather, Anthony Cuoco passed on, and in the aftermath we discovered that he had been there.  He never talked about it.  We were never able to hear the details first hand, but through those pictures I began to dig and research,  and the culmination of that research and his photos was this film.

It is very much a labor of love, but much more than that I felt a responsibility to make sure this story was told.  I had the tools, the training, the knowledge, and the proof.

My friend and producer Jeff Loach and I poured our hearts and souls into making the film happen.  Jeff as the amazing producer that he is, wouldn’t rest until we secured Harrison Young our first choice to play my Grandfather.

The film debuted April 9th 2005 at the San Fernando Valley International Film Festival,  just two days prior to the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald.  The timing was not lost on me, and I felt there was more to it than serendipity.  Harrison Young, passed away only a few short months later.

Recently, I have seen a spate of blog posts, you tube videos, and other hateful communications saying that these concentration camps never existed.  That the  holocaust was a massive conspiracy.  I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears, even though my research had told me that 17% of American’s don’t believe this happened, it seems that worldwide those numbers are even greater.  For a moment I felt like a failure.  That despite my best efforts, we as human beings are doomed to repeat these horrible atrocities.  In the news, I see examples of ethnic cleansing still happening today and I’m sick to my stomach.

Then I received an e-mail from a history teacher in Bradenton, FL.  He had watched the film online on IMDB.com, and contacted me to get a copy of the film to show is students, telling me that, “It says more in less than 10 minutes than I could tell them myself in 90 minutes.”    I remembered, that this wasn’t the first such request.  I had received dozens over the years including a man from Italy who asked for a transcript since the online version had no subtitles.  While others can post world-wide about how it never happened, I can still provide that much needed counter-point.

So today, on the 64th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald, I am making the film available online for the first time in it’s full resolution via Vimeo.com.  I will also be releasing the the film to the public on DVD in cooperation with Amazon.com, and will be donating all proceeds from the sale of these DVD’s to the American Veterans Association and the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.

I know many have you reading this have seen it previously at film festivals, personal screenings, and on-line, but I urge you to please watch it again, then pass it on.  Share the links,  forward the e-mails, talk about it with your kids.  As I wrote in the film, “This can not happen again.”

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Paul Cuoco