The Girl Who Wore Freedom

Please join us for the movie screening of The Girl Who Wore Freedom. 

The Girl Who Wore Freedom is an untold love story of two nations uncovered from the ruins of WWII. In the first chapter of this documentary series, we follow the German occupation of Normandy and the liberation of the French people, told through stories of the French who lived through this turbulent time and still speak of a love affair that bonds generations of Free French to their American liberators to this day.

One little girl’s story exemplifies how the French saw – and still remember – the bravery and heroism of the American GIs and demonstrates why the United States has always taken part in protecting and liberating any who are oppressed. Her name is Dany Patrix, The Girl Who Wore Freedom, and she is the thread that weaves us throughout this story.

Synopsis:

THE GIRL WHO WORE FREEDOM brings us to Normandy, France. Once an idyllic landscape, Normandy had succumbed to German invaders who overran its farms, its manors, its countryside.

Here we meet Dany Patrix, Maurice Lecoueur, Henri-Jean Renaud, and others, who recount their unique relationships with the Allied forces who liberated Normandy on June 6, 1944. The journey from occupation to liberation, to acceptance and forgiveness to gratitude and pride, is explored through interviews with French survivors and American veterans in this powerful, personal film that tells stories handed down over two generations.

We visit Brecourt Manor, the site of the battle between the men of Easy Company – known as the Band of Brothers – and a German battery. We hear from the children of D-Day, who were cared for by American soldiers after their families were killed in the onslaught. We explore the nature of war, of forgiveness, of gratitude through interviews with French survivors and American veterans.

We travel today’s United States with Flo Plana, who seeks out heroes of World War II to collect and curate their stories for the Utah Beach D-Day Museum. We meet veterans like Ceo Bauer, Charles Shay, and Bob DeVinney, who recount their experiences and the relationships they built over the summer of 1944.

Normandy itself is now a living war museum, with shrapnel on the beaches, bullet holes in its walls, and blood staining its church pews. Those that were there have vowed never to forget the lessons of World War II and to pass down the value of freedom to their children and their children’s children.

The film closes on contemporary D-Day celebrations of remembrance and gratitude, where French citizens of all ages celebrate those who were and are willing to defend freedom because they, the people of Normandy, know all too well that freedom is not free.

Wednesday, November 9
5:30pm
Embassy of France

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