The children of Izieu’s magic lantern

Accompanied by the young cook of the Children’s Home Philippe Dehan, who passed on his passion for cinema, the children of Izieu created in 1943 short films in the form of drawn rollers. The latter were animated thanks to the process of the magic lantern, invented in the XVII century. The children livened up this showing by reading dialogues they wrote themselves. Six rolls, made of three stories, were given by Sabine Zlatin, the former director of the Children’s Home, to the French national Library.

From the beginning of the school year in September 2021, 17 pupils of the class UPE2A (educational units for arriving allophone pupils) of the Vaulx-en-Velin collège participed to creative workshops initiating them to cinema in their school and at the Maison d’Izieu. So they contributed to the creation of an animated film, la Lanterne magique des enfants d’Izieu, by making voices and sound effects for the 74 panels of the story Ivan Tsaravitch. They were recorded on December 7 and 8 2021 in the former refectory, place of all-nighters 80 years ago. The studio Parmi les lucioles was untrusted to create this animated film which can be watched by the public at the end of the guided tours of the house.