Writer-director Jake Paltrow (“Young Ones,” “The Good Night,” “De Palma”) will join Sag Harbor Cinema for a screening of his newest film “June Zero” on Thursday, August 1, at 6 p.m. The film will be followed by a Q&A with Paltrow, moderated by SHC’s Artistic Director Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan. Based on true accounts, the film covers the 1961 execution of Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann through three distinct figures: Eichmann’s Jewish Moroccan prison guard, a precocious 13-year-old Libyan immigrant and an Israeli police investigator and Holocaust survivor.
Inspired by his father Bruce Paltrow’s deep interest in World War II and Jewish history, Jake Paltrow co-wrote the script with Israeli filmmaker Tom Shoval (“Youth,” “Shake Your Cares Away”) after visiting Israel and interviewing living witnesses. “It was clear that to access some of those depths there was a cultural and historical layer I wouldn’t be able to penetrate on my own and I set out to find someone to write it with there,” said Paltrow. “I was very lucky to find Tom.”
Paltrow shot the film in Israel and Ukraine on Super 16mm. “I still feel very dedicated to shooting on film. I spent so much time when I was younger trying to learn how to get what I wanted in terms of exposing and processing film that now I feel it is an essential part of the way I like to work,” he said. “I find that with very little manipulation of the negative, film just kind of ‘hugs’ disparate things, brings them together and helps the audience to stay immersed in the era you’re telling them this is taking place.”
Jake Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California in 1975. His narrative fiction films are “Young Ones” and “The Good Night.” He co-directed the documentary “De Palma” with Noah Baumbach. He has directed several successful television shows including “Boardwalk Empire” and “Halt and Catch Fire.” He was nominated for an Emmy Award for “The First Ones” (a film commissioned by The New York Times Magazine). His films have screened at Sundance, Venice, New York, Karlovy Vary and several other A-class international film festivals.
“June Zero” is a 2024 theatrical release. Tickets for the screening and Q&A will be available at the Cinema box office, 90 Main Street, Sag Harbor, or on the Cinema’s website, sagharborcinema.org.