Alan & Naomi is a 1992 film about the friendship between two children in 1944 Brooklyn.[2] Lukas Haas and Vanessa Zaoui star as the title characters, and the screenplay is based on a 1977 novel of the same name by Myron Levoy.
| Alan & Naomi | |
|---|---|
 U.S. videocassette cover | |
| Directed by | Sterling Van Wagenen |
| Written by | Myron Levoy Jordan Horowitz |
| Based on | Alan & Naomi by Myron Levoy |
| Starring | Lukas Haas Vanessa Zaoui |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Leucadia Film Corporation (original release)[1] PorchLight Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | under US$3 million[1] |
Premise
editAfter initial urging from his parents, 14-year-old Alan Silverman (Haas) develops an emotional friendship with Naomi Kirshenbaum (Zaoui), who has been deeply troubled since seeing her father killed by the Nazis in Europe.
Background
editMyron Levoy's original 1977 novel was an American Book Award Finalist for Children's Literature and an honor book for the Jane Addams Children's Book Award,[3] the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and The Horn Book. Alan & Naomi received the National Book Awards For Children's Literature in Germany and Austria,[4][5][6] and the Dutch Silver Pencil Prize.[7] In 1986 Alan & Naomi was adapted for a theatrical play, Geheime Freunde, by Rudolf Herfurtner.[8] The novel has been translated into eleven languages.[3]
Production
editAlan & Naomi was the first project from Leucadia Film Corporation,[1] a Salt Lake City, Utah company founded in 1989[9] "by producers Sterling Van Wagenen and David Anderson and entrepreneur Ian Cumming".[1] It was also Van Wagenen's theatrical directorial debut; in the mid-1980s, he had also helmed a Holocaust television documentary called Inside the Vicious Heart.[1]
Release
editDuring its original 1992 run, Alan & Naomi was released in 100 theatres in 19 U.S. cities.[1] On February 8, 1999, Canadian family-entertainment company CINAR acquired the film as part of its purchase of the twelve-title Leucadia library.[9]
Reception
editThe film won the Crystal Heart Award at the 1992 Heartland Film Festival. Vanessa Zaoui was also nominated for the 1993 Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress Co-starring in a Motion Picture.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Orme, Terry (1992-01-31). "Home-Grown Premiere: Utah-Based Producers Release First Film". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. C1. Retrieved 2023-01-26 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Kempley, Rita (1992-01-31). "Alan & Naomi". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b Maughan, Shannon (February 27, 2020). "Obituary: Myron Levoy". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ "Der gelbe Vogel". Der Buxtehuder Bulle (in German). Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
- ^ "Buch: Der gelbe Vogel". Arbeitskreis Jugendliteratur (in German). Archived from the original on January 8, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
- ^ Bundesministerium Kunst, Kultur, öffentlicher Dienst und Sport. "Kinder- und Jugendbuchpreis" (in Austrian German). Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ "Griffels, Penselen en Paletten – Bekroonde boeken sinds 1954". Stichting Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlands Boek (in Dutch). Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ "Young Theatre bonn: "Secret Friends" based on the novel by Myron Levoy". Theaterkompass. Theater Compass. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ a b "Cinar Acquires Leucadia Film Corporation Family-Film Library". Business Wire (Press release). 1999-02-08. Retrieved 2023-01-26 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Be Moved by the Power of Film - See "Tomorrow" Today" (Press release). Heartland Film Festival. 2005. Archived from the original on 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
External links
edit- Alan & Naomi at IMDb