Winner of multiple film festival awards, The Boy in the Woods follows the true story of Max (Jett Klyne), a Jewish boy escaping Nazi persecution in Eastern Europe. After he is separated from his family, Max finds refuge with a Christian peasant, Jasko (Richard Armitage), who hides him in plain sight until a tense stand-off with some Nazi police. Afraid for his own family's life, Jasko sends Max to live in the woods where he learns to survive alone. With echoes of a Grimm's Fairy Tale, Max's experience is both terrifying and magical. He inhabits a landscape crawling with Jew-hunters and partisans and haunted by ghosts. Then everything changes when he meets another boy in hiding, Yanek (David Kohlsmith). Their extraordinary adventure culminates in the heroic rescue of a baby girl, but it comes at a tragic price. Based on the best-selling memoir by Canadian Holocaust survivor Maxwell Smart and inspired by the award-winning documentary Cheating Hitler: Surviving the Holocaust.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with writer and director Rebecca Snow, lead actor Richard Armitage, and the survivor on whose memoir the film is based, Maxwell Smart. The discussion will be moderated by Annette Insdorf, host of Reel Pieces at the 92nd Street Y.

The film will be available on VOD and digital platforms in the US on September 24th. For pre-orders on Apple iTunes go to https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-boy-in-the-woods/umc.cmc.x6fjuyoh1n66tjv793g71p4w .

Richard Armitage recently wrapped production on the Netflix limited series DAMAGE, based on the 1991 novel about a British politician in the prime of his life, who causes his own downfall through an inappropriate relationship. He stars alongside Charlie Murphy, who plays Armitage’s daughter-in-law turned love interest in the series. Richard can currently be seen in the British crime limited series, STAY CLOSE, based on Harlan Corben’s novel of the same name for Netflix. The series debuted on December 31st and was the fifth most watched English language series on Netflix in the week following its release. Richard can previously be seen as the lead in Netflix’s series THE STRANGER based on Harlan Coben’s eponymous novel and in the third season of EPIX’s espionage drama, BERLIN STATION opposite Richard Jenkins and Rhys Ifans. Anonymous Content (MR. ROBOT) produced the show and Michael Roksam (BULLHEAD) directed it. He also appeared as the lead villain in Gary Ross’ OCEAN’S EIGHT alongside Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, and Mindy Kaling. Richard boasts a diverse resume in film, television, and the stage, gaining momentum on UK shows including ‘MI-5’ and ‘Robin Hood.’ He achieved international recognition with his performance in the 2011 box office smash ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ opposite Chris Evans and Hugo Weaving, before following it up with his iconic performance as ‘Thorin’ in Peter Jackson’s THE HOBBIT trilogy, which has grossed over $1 billion to date. Richard can be seen as the lead in PILGRIMAGE opposite Tom Holland and Jon Bernthal as well as BRAIN ON FIRE (directed by Gerard Barrett) opposite Chloe Grace Moretz.

Annette Insdorf is Professor of Film at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, and Moderator of the popular “Reel Pieces” series at Manhattan’s 92Y, where she has interviewed almost 300 film celebrities. She is author of the landmark study, Indelible Shadows: Film and the Holocaust (with a foreword by Elie Wiesel); Double Lives,Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski; Francis Truffaut, a study of the French director’s work; Philip Kaufman, and Intimations: The Cinema of Wojciech Has. Her latest book is Cinematic Overtures: How to Read Opening Scenes, currently in its fourth printing.

Originally born OZIAC FROMM, Maxwell Smart was born in 1930 in the predominantly Jewish town of Buczacz, Poland (now Ukraine). He survived the Holocaust and eventually immigrated to Montreal, Canada in 1948. Besides his parents, Smart lost his only sibling, a younger sister, and 62 members of his extended family. In Montreal, he became a successful expressionist artist and businessman. He published his memoir Chaos to Canvas about surviving the holocaust with the Azrieli Foundation. After participating in the documentary CHEATING HITLER, he was approached by Harper Collins to write an expanded version of his experiences which was released as THE BOY IN THE WOODS in 2022. Maxwell optioned his memoir to Lumanity Productions and served as an executive producer on the feature film adaptation.

Born in London England, Rebecca Snow started her career at the BBC working on historical dramas and arts documentaries. Since then, she has worked in Los Angeles and Toronto with broadcast writing/directing credits that include NBC’s Emmy-nominated documentary series ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, CBC’s ‘Nature of Thing’s, and History Channel’s ‘Hunting Nazi Treasure’, ‘Museum Secrets’ and ‘Real Vikings: Viking Women’ for which she won the Canadian Screen Award for directing. Her first feature-length documentary ‘Pandora’s Box: Lifting the Lid on Menstruation’ had its world premiere at Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2020 and won the Alliance of Women Film Journalists Special Jury Award at Whistler Film Festival. ‘The Boy In The Woods’ is her first narrative feature and is based on the memoir of a Holocaust survivor who appeared in her feature-length documentary ‘Cheating Hitler: Surviving the Holocaust’. The documentary made world news and was nominated for 6 Canadian Screen Awards.