Holocaust bio 'Seamstress' sewn up by U

Holland to helm project called 'Seren'

By DAVE MCNARY

Universal Pictures is developing the memoirs of Holocaust survivor Sara Tuvel Bernstein as a feature film with Agnieszka Holland ("The Third Miracle") to direct.

The project, based on "The Seamstress: A Memoir of Survival," carries the tentative title "Seren," the given name for Bernstein, who lived from 1918 to 1983. Pamela Gray ("Music of the Heart") is writing the script and Ed Saxon is producing.

Holland recently agreed to direct family drama "Julia Walking Home" from a script she co-wrote with Roman Green and Arlene Sarner (Daily Variety, May 12).

"The Seamstress," published by Berkeley Publishing Group, recounts Bernstein's life as a child in a Romanian mountain village, her survival during World War II by working as a seamstress, her imprisonment in the Ravensbruck concentration camp and her efforts to reconnect with lost relatives after the war.

The book's introduction was written by Edgar Bronfman Sr., chairman of Universal parent Seagram Co., who has been extensively involved in recent years in the cause of financial justice for Jews who lost their possessions during World War II. His efforts, which helped persuade Swiss banks to establish a $1.5 billion restitution fund in 1998, were recognized last August when he was awarded a U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Bronfman Sr. served for 38 years as the beverage company's CEO before turning over the post to his son Edgar Bronfman Jr. prior to Seagram's purchase of Universal.