Sunday, May 9, 4:30 PM, Charles Theatre 4

Director: Ivy Meeropol

Cast: Ivy Meeropol, Julius Rosenberg (archival), Ethel Rosenberg (archival), Michael Meeropol

Country: U.S.
Year: 2003
Running Time: 99 minutes
Format: Beta SP

After a sensational trial in 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of betraying their country and were executed in 1953. One can still get into a pretty decent argument just by mentioning their names. Their actions and America's response to it say a great deal about Cold War political emotions.

The Rosenberg's granddaughter, Ivy Meeropol, takes us on a fascinating, and surprisingly cheerful, journey of discovery about the two little boys that were caught up in the maelstrom. One of the boys, Michael, is Ivy's father. In the way of families, not too much had been discussed about her infamous grandparents, and Ivy was determined to learn more. Using news footage and what appear to be intimate family home movies, Ivy Meeropol shows us her family at a moment of unimaginable crisis. Some of the films best moments are when Ivy helps her grandparents' friends remember facts and emotions. From those touching interviews, to the highly charged letters Ethel wrote to her sons while waiting for her execution, Ivy Meeropol takes us into a strange world; her world.

Though highly personal, the story is revelatory. Not only is the Rosenberg case full of legal and moral ambiguity, but execution hardly settled anything. As Ivy Meeropol demonstrates, the search for the truth continues to this day, with strong emotions whirling around every new discovery. Through it all, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's granddaughter is trying to understand.

-- Jed Dietz

Ivy Meeropol grew up in Wilbraham, MA and studied Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence. She spent several years serving as a legislative aide and speechwriter in the US Congress. She has written for numerous magazines, wrote for and was fiction editor for Provincetown Arts Magazine, and has completed three screenplays. Her husband, Tom, loves Scrabble.