The Round Up | |
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![]() French poster |
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Directed by | Roselyne Bosch |
Produced by | Alain Goldman |
Written by | Roselyne Bosch |
Starring | Mélanie Laurent Jean Reno Sylvie Testud Gad Elmaleh Raphaëlle Agogué |
Cinematography | David Ungaro |
Editing by | Plantin Alice |
Distributed by | Gaumont Film Company Wide Pictures |
Release date(s) | 10 March 2010 |
Country | France |
Language | French |
Budget | $29.5 million[1] |
The Round Up (French: La Rafle) is a French film directed by Roselyne Bosch and produced by Alain Goldman. The film stars Mélanie Laurent, Jean Reno, Sylvie Testud and Gad Elmaleh. Based on the true story of a young Jewish boy, the film depicts the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv), the mass arrest of Jews by French police who were Nazi accomplices in Paris in July 1942.[1]
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Joseph Weisman, a young Jewish Parisian, and his family are taken by the Nazis and Vichy collaborators in the rafle du Vel' d'Hiv.
Bosch first decided to make a film of the events surrounding the rafle du Vel' d'Hiv because she felt sympathy with the victims. Her husband's family is Jewish and lived in Montmartre near where the Weismann family lived.[2] Her father had been detained in one of Francisco Franco's internment camps, so she felt a connection with the subject matter. She began extensively researching the events surrounding the round up and discovered survivor Joseph Weismann and Annette Monod whose memories would eventually form the base of the script. Bosch decided to portray only real life characters in the film and cast Gad Elmaleh in the role of Joseph's father, Schumel Weismann. Initially, Elmaleh was hesitant to accept a serious dramatic role, but after reading the script he agreed to play the role. Actress Mélanie Laurent was cast in the role of the Red Cross worker Annette Monod, who was named a Righteous Among the Nations for her efforts during and after the round up.[3]
Shooting began in May 2009 and lasted for 13 weeks. 9,000 extras were used and facsimiles of the Vélodrome d'hiver and a concentration camp were reconstructed in Hungary for the film.[4]
The French premiere took place on 10 March 2010. The film also opened in Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland on the same day.
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