Film Description

A moving and essential contribution to our understanding of the Holocaust and Nazi era, this inspiring film tells the rarely heard story of women's survival and resistance in German-occupied countries during World War II. While searing testimony and dramatic reenactments combine in a detailed evocation of the past, candid scenes of the film's construction break the narrative to skillfully question present-day representations of this history. In intimate interviews, ten Norwegian Jewish and gentile women share their experiences of deportation to concentration camps for their political activities. Recalling how smuggling false papers, aiding underground radio groups, and distributing illegal newspapers led to their imprisonment, they impart the fear of having been caught and the pride of having acted. As these courageous women describe enduring interrogations and torture while pregnant and giving birth in prison, they convey the incredible hardships faced specifically by women in the camps.
Articulating women's experience of occupation and imprisonment, this moving film is an important record of resistance. As a historical record and tribute to remarkable courage, Times of Darkness offers a stirring example of women refusing to compromise their beliefs in the most difficult of circumstances.