June 18, 2012 First Israeli Astronaut Subject of Documentary Film at Library July 16

When Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon boarded the Space Shuttle Columbia on Jan. 16, 2003, he carried with him a Torah scroll that had survived the Holocaust. His intention was for the cherished artifact to be shared with the world as a symbol of survival. Sadly, Ramon and his six fellow crew members perished during the ill-fated mission.

Titled “An Article of Hope” (2011), the award-winning documentary about Ramon and the historic space flight will be shown at the Library of Congress at noon on Monday, July 16 in the Mary Pickford Theater, located on the third floor of the James Madison Building at 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored jointly by the Library’s Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and the Hebrew Language Table. Tickets are not required.

Directed by Daniel Cohen, the 54-minute film presents a unique story that interweaves the heights of scientific achievement, the depths of a nation’s cruelty, the private grief of a boy who came of age during the Holocaust and the public mourning of many nations in the aftermath of the Shuttle disaster. Cohen will discuss the film after the screening.

Cohen is a six-time Emmy award-winning veteran journalist and documentary filmmaker. “An Article of Hope,” his latest film, has won “Best Film” honors in three film festivals in the United States and Hong Kong. His 30-year career has taken him around the world from remote cities in South America to the launch pad of America’s Space Shuttle, the presidential campaign trail and to the Arctic. His assignments include war zones in Bosnia and the Middle East, touring with the Pope, national political conventions and presidential inaugurations. His most recent production work took him to the polar ice caps with environmental researchers. His work has garnered five Emmy awards, numerous Emmy nominations, honors from the Associated Press and the Ohio State University Journalism award for investigative reporting.

The Library’s Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Va., is a state-of-the-art facility that was made possible through the generosity of David Woodley Packard and the Packard Humanities Institute, with benefaction from the U.S. Congress. The Packard Campus is home to more than 6 million collection items, including films and sound recordings.