A Jewish boy named Srulik fights to survive as he evades Nazis in wartime Poland, posing as a Christian named Jurek. Run Boy Run, Oscar-winning filmmaker Pepe Danquart‘s wartime odyssey, is a childhood adventure that doesn’t attempt to shield us from the traumas of war that surround its hero. Srulik encounters a number of characters on his journey of survival–some helpful, some harmful–and suffers more than his fair share of horrors, enduring what most men could not. His faith, mettle, and identity as a Jew are tested. The film is an adaptation of Uri Orlev’s 2000 novel of the same name, based on the real life events of Yoram Fridman. It was a standout film at the 2014 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, and it’s garnered rousing ovations on the festival circuit.

While in San Francisco, Danquart spoke with us about casting identical twins to play Srulik (and being a twin himself), not wanting to make a typical holocaust film, the importance of laughter in desperate times, targeting young audiences, working with only natural light