Film Sponsors: Active International, Ellen and Arthur Wagner; Orli & Mark Irgang & Family; Gwen & Steve Rosenzweig

Munich, 1972. During the Olympics, a group of Palestinians attacks the Israeli team. The hostage situation ends in a bloodbath, but the German authorities never reveal what really happened. Ankie Spitzer, wife of the Israeli fencing coach Andre Spitzer, has been fighting for the truth about the murder of her husband ever since. In this two-part documentary, Spitzer finds answers to questions that have been hidden for 50 years. How did Andre die, who did it, and most important, what happened to the murderer? Due to newly uncovered documents and testimonies of eyewitnesses who have never spoken up, the truth finally reveals itself.

Ankie: The Olympic Widow will be immediately followed by a Q&A with Joe Allen.

Please note that this discussion is exclusively taking place at the in person screening on Wednesday, May 3. It will not be available virtually.

Joe Allen is an award-winning documentarian who has written, produced, and directed films of interest to Rockland County. Among those films are: “20 Million Minutes,” about the efforts of the families of the 11 murdered Israeli Olympians in Munich in 1972 to get a Minute of Silence in their honor at the Olympic Games in London in 2012. “Hudson Valley Honor Flight: Generation Bridge,” a film about the organization that brings World II and Korean War Veterans to Washington, D.C., for a day of celebration in their honor. “There Was No Silence,” a follow-up to “20 Million Minutes” which follows the eventual success of a Minute of Silence for the 11 Israeli Olympians at the Tokyo Olympics. He is currently working on “Empty Cupboards,” a documentary about hunger in suburbia.

Joe has spent most of his career involved in community activism and philanthropy. He is retired Senior Vice President, Employee Communications and Community Affairs, at Active International, a global trading company. He is the founder of Active Cares, the company’s cause-related program which supported close to 700 nonprofits. Joe currently serves as Chairman, Emeritus, of the Board of Directors of People to People, Rockland County’s largest emergency food resource, located in Nanuet, NY. Joe is also on the board of the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation and the Rockland Community Foundation. He spearheaded the acquisition of naming rights of the Active International Cardiovascular Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital, which opened in January 2007. He also serves as the Director of the Boulders Community Fund for the New York Boulders.

Joe resides in Tomkins Cove, NY. He received his B.A., Cum Laude, from Queens College of the City University of New York in 1974