Entertainment : 'Zookeeper's Wife' brings inspiring true story to Palace screen

By Rose Trafford, Vinton Palace The Zookeeper's Wife is a moving tale of a family that owns and operates a zoo in Warsaw, Poland during World War II. Playing the Palace Friday, April 28 through Thursday, May 4 at 7 pm, and Monday, May 1 at 2 pm, The Zookeeper's Wife is rated PG-13 for sexual connotations and brief nudity, and violence. It was awarded the "Truly Moving Picture Award" by the 2017 Heartland Film Festival. Based on a true story, Jan and Antonina Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh and Jessica Chastain) run a zoo in the center of Warsaw. At the beginning of the German invasion of Poland, the zoo is hit by bombs and many of the animals die. A Nazi zoologist, Dr. Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl) convinces the Zabinskis to let him take some of their animals in order to protect the most prized specimens, but they later find out that he is performing experiments and attempting to recreate extinct beats. Meanwhile, Jewish businesses are being closed and the Jews forced into the Warsaw Ghetto. As the Zabinskis see the conditions around them worsen, they decide that they cannot just stand by and watch. Little by little, they attempt to save Jews by bringing them out of the ghetto and into the zoo. As the war continues on, their actions become even riskier. How long will the war last? Will they make it to the end? And the biggest question of all- will they be caught? The Zookeeper's Wife is a beautiful retelling of a true story that was first told through Diane Ackerman's book of the same name. In order to write that book, Diane read through all of Antonina's Zabinksi's diaries, which were published in Poland in 1968 under the title "People and Animals." MAY Our May schedule opens for kids and animation lovers with The Baby Boss. The rest of the month will cater to our adult patrons - Going in Style, Fate of the Furious, and The Circle. Tickets for all these shows available online soon!