Outcasts Documentary to Premiere on OMNI

Outcasts: A Love Story premières Sunday, Nov. 15, 9 p.m. ET, OMNI

In a time when East Central Europe was shrouded under a black cloud of hate and betrayal, an epic love story flourished within the turbulent times of the Second World War. This is the backdrop for director Susan M. Papp’s latest documentary, Outcasts: A Love Story. Based on her book published earlier this year, Outcasts chronicles the meeting, courtship and unrequited love of a Christian man and a Jewish woman, Tibor Schroeder and Hedy Weisz.

In the small town of Nagyszollos, Ukraine, a region falling within the borders of Hungary up until the First World War, Tibor and Hedy’s relationship — which began when Hedy was hired as Tibor’s secretary — defied Hungary’s defamation of race laws and practices of the time. Nevertheless, the pair agreed to marry and the union was consented to by both families, outraging local communities.

“Everybody knows that when you fall passionately, madly in love with someone you can’t help yourself,” explains Papp. “He didn’t care about the local conventions, he didn’t care about the laws and he flouted them to a certain degree because he knew he had some protection through their wealth and his father’s influence.”

To read the rest of the interview, visit tvguide.ca