Film Festival Special Preview Event & Screening of Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness

Name: Film Festival Special Preview Event & Screening of Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness
Start: 2026-02-24T19:00:00-06:00
End: 2026-02-24T21:00:00-06:00
Location: The J Staenberg Family Complex

February 24 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Movie poster for Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness. A photo of St. Louis Osuwa Taiko Japanese drummers, and Diane estelle Vicari, filmmaker.

Preview the 2026 Season Experience with a Film Screening, Filmmaker Q&A, & Guest Performance

Experience an evening of powerful storytelling, community, and Jewish and Japanese culture during this year’s St. Louis Jewish Film Festival Preview Event.

Take in an energetic pre-film performance by St. Louis Osuwa Taiko, be moved by the heroic acts of a Japanese diplomat during the Holocaust in a screening of the documentary film Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness, and engage with diane estelle Vicari, award‑winning filmmaker of Sugihara, during a live Q&A.

Film: Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness

2000, NR
USA, English
Robert Kirk, diane estelle Vicari
Documentary: 90 minutes

a powerful documentary that reminds us how one person’s courage can change the course of history

In the dark early days of World War II, Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara made a choice that defied his government — and changed the course of thousands of lives.

In the fall of 1939, as Hitler’s murderous wave swept across Eastern Europe, Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara faced an impossible choice. Stationed in Lithuania as Japan’s Consul, Sugihara was surrounded by desperate Jewish refugees whose only hope of escape lay in a transit visa he was expressly forbidden to issue. Acting against direct orders from Tokyo—and at enormous risk to his career and his family—Sugihara followed his conscience, handwriting thousands of visas that enabled Jews to flee through Russia to Japan and onward to safety. Today, it is estimated that more than 40,000 people owe their lives to Sugihara’s extraordinary moral courage.

Trailer

Special Pre-Show Performance by St. Louis Osuwa Taiko

St. Louis Osuwa Taiko delivers the traditional art of Japanese taiko—along with powerful modern pieces—through electrifying, high‑energy performances that captivate audiences with rhythm, movement, and cultural artistry. Performing throughout the Midwest, they bring a thunderous, heart‑pounding experience you can feel in your chest, making them a must‑see for anyone who loves immersive live art or Japanese culture.

Post-Screening Q&A with Filmmaker diane estelle Vicari

The screening will be followed by a live Q&A with award-winning filmmaker diane estelle Vicari, whose documentary brings Sugihara’s story vividly to life. A graduate of UCLA’s Program in Film and Television, Vicari has built a distinguished career producing films that explore our shared humanity and global interconnectedness. Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness earned the prestigious Pare Lorentz/IDA Award, and in 2021, the California State Legislature officially designated Sugihara Visas Day, honoring the diplomat’s legacy of compassion and rescue.

Vicari’s appearance is generously sponsored by Nancy and Ken Kranzberg and Shelly and Rick Mayhew. We invite you to join us for this meaningful evening of film, conversation, and reflection — a fitting prelude to a festival devoted to bearing witness, choosing courage, and celebrating the power of human kindness.

Tickets

Tickets for this special preview event are only $5/person!

RESERVE TICKETS

Partner Event

Join us January 17–April 4 at the Holocaust Museum for Special Exhibition “Resilience – A Sansei Sense of Legacy”

The Film Festival Special Preview Event: Sugihara coincides with the Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum’s new exhibition, RESILIENCE: A Sansei Sense of Legacy, on view January 17 – April 4, 2026.

In 1942, Executive Order 9066 forced the incarceration of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. Told from the perspective of Sansei – third-generation Japanese Americans – Resilience features the work of eight artists whose families experienced this injustice and whose art reflects on its impact across generations. That impact was also felt here in St. Louis, where many Japanese American families settled post incarceration.

This free exhibition is made possible through the Museum’s Partnership with the Japanese American Citizen’s League.

31st ANNUAL ST. LOUIS JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
Sunday, March 15–Thursday, March 26, 2026

Now in its 31st year, the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival showcases outstanding films that illuminate Jewish life, culture, and identity. Screenings run Sunday, March 15–Thursday, March 26, 2026, at the B&B multiplex and at partner locations around St. Louis, offering audiences a high-quality cinematic experience on both the Grand Screen and in smaller auditoriums. The St. Louis Jewish Film Festival is a program of the J – St. Louis.