Marblehead Native Returns To Screen Powerful Award-Winning Doc

The following is a press release

Marblehead native, Roger Lyons, returns to his hometown to host three sold-out screenings of his new compelling award-winning documentary film. He chronicles the remarkable life of Holocaust Survivor Steve Ross and his incredible story of resilience, kindness, and his lifetime search for the US soldier who rescued him at the end of World War II. Etched in Glass: The Legacy of Steve Ross, written, produced, and directed by Lyons will screen at the Warwick Place Cinema on Friday, May 11 at 2:30pm - and on Monday, May 14 at both 5pm and then 7:30pm.

Roger Lyons grew up in Marblehead on Ralph Road in the 1960’s, graduated from Marblehead High School, and used to see films at the old Warwick Theater. He will be in attendance for all showings answering audience questions after each screening. Steve Ross’ son, Mike, will appear at the Monday 7:30pm screening. Lyons’ co-producer and editor, Tony Bennis will be in attendance for both of the Monday screenings at 5:00pm and 7:30pm.

“When I first heard the story of Steve Ross, I knew his remarkable life of determination and his persistent fight against intolerance was a story that needed to be told in a feature-length documentary,” said Roger Lyons. “I didn’t realize that it would take 17 years to complete the project, but the story took many turns and it wasn’t clear how it was going to end until an amazing sequence of events took place a few years ago that led to the dramatic conclusion.”

Lyons’ “Etched in Glass” was completed in December– and has already won the “Audience Award for Best Documentary” in both the Rhode Island International Film Festival and the Boston Jewish Film Festival. The documentary follows Steve Ross’ survival through the Holocaust as a boy and to his settling in Boston as an orphan of the war. Ross became a youth worker, helping to save the lives of hundreds of at-risk young people.

Ross became a fixture at swearing-in ceremonies for new US citizens where he would talk about American patriotism, tell the story of that heroic soldier’s act of kindness, and display the same little American flag given to him by that soldier. Ross became the driving force, and founder, of the iconic New England Holocaust Memorial featuring six tall glass towers with six million numbers etched in the glass, representing those tattooed on the arms of the Jews who were killed in the concentration camps.

The film also captures inspirational footage of Ross motivating inner-city high school students to believe in themselves and to stand up against bigotry. There are also emotional interviews with men whose lives were turned around with Steve’s support when they were at-risk teenagers.

“It has been rewarding to have screened the film at several film festivals and to have it shown to the legislators last week at the State Capitol in Hartford, CT, to help move a bill to mandate Holocaust education in Connecticut schools,” said Roger Lyons. “But to return to Marblehead, my hometown, and share this powerful film with people I grew up with – at the Warwick Cinema – will be a truly rewarding experience.”

Roger Lyons is a Boston area television executive and Governors’ Award recipient from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He was just nominated for two Emmy Awards for the pilot of a new television program, Heroes Around Us.

Etched in Glass: The Legacy of Steve Ross is being screened as part of the North Shore International Jewish Film Festival. The Warwick Cinema is at Warwick Place, 123 Pleasant Street, Marblehead, MA 01945