3 Generations is a non-profit organization that documents stories of human rights abuses through film. We enable survivors of crimes against humanity to record their experiences as an act of healing, a call to action and to create historical evidence.
Sidney Bernstein, “Memories of the Camps”, 1945
3 Generations is the fulfillment of a family promise.
Jane Wells, Darfur, 2004
Our Team & Partners
3 Generations is a non-profit organization that documents stories of human rights abuses through film. We enable survivors of crimes against humanity to record their experiences as an act of healing, a call to action and to create historical evidence.
We amplify and honor each witness’s voice by creating broad audiences: film festivals, educational outreach, theatrical and community screenings, social media, partnerships, web-channels and more. Our goal is to influence the national dialogue and build momentum for social change.
By sharing these stories broadly, 3 Generations
- Explores survival and resilience
- Amplifies and honors survivors’ collective voice
- Builds an avenue for the world to listen and learn from their experiences
- Shifts how we confront geopolitical forces causing violence and oppression
“I formed 3 Generations for the people of Darfur, for my father and those of his generation, those who were lost in the Holocaust and those who survived and were able to tell their stories.”
Jane Wells, Founder and Director, 3 Generations
The idea for 3 Generations evolved in the mountains of Colorado, decades and continents away from two conflicts that inspired it – the Holocaust and the genocide in Darfur.
Living in Colorado with my husband and young family. I was afforded the luxury of perspective. Far from global conflict I became aware that a genocide was unfolding in Darfur, and I was determined to go there myself to witness what was really happening. Colorado also gifted me the contacts to get there. Through a neighbor I got a visa for Sudan to visit Darfur and later Chad under the auspices of the International Medical Corps. Able to spend weeks at the frontlines, I heard first hand from survivors about what has been called “the first genocide of the 21st century”.
In April 1945 my father, Sidney Bernstein, was with the Allied Forces that liberated the Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. As a film advisor to the Ministry of Information, he was responsible for overseeing the film units as they documented the atrocities found there. Back in the UK he was tasked with producing a feature length film, German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, about the camps the Allies liberated. My father brought together some of the greatest film-makers, writers and talent of that era to create a permanent reminder of Nazi atrocities for generations to come. In the fall of 1945, however, his Ministry of Information superiors closed down the production and the film was not completed or shown. For forty years he never spoke of what he had seen or the doomed project which was buried in the vaults of the Imperial War Museum in London. In 1984 some of the footage was made available to the public. This was the first time my father (and others who had been at the liberation of the camps) spoke up about the horrors they had witnessed. Already a very old man, my father told me the greatest regret of his life was not completing the atrocity film. The complex story of that film and why it was stifled was not fully told until 2014, when it became the subject of the the award-winning documentary, Night Will Fall. directed by Andre Singer and produced by Sally Angel.
When I returned home from Sudan, I met Brian Steidle, a former marine and photojournalist who had documented the genocide in Darfur. As Brian’s story unfolded, I realized there were clear parallels between Brian’s experiences and those of my father. After coming home to America with proof of genocide in Darfur, the State Department asked Brian to stop showing his pictures. Unlike my father, he was not under military command and decided he would not bury the truth. Brian and his sister, Gretchen Wallace, intended to make a feature documentary about Brian’s irrefutable witness of the genocide in Darfur. Hearing this and remembering my father’s regret, I agreed to help Brian tell the world about Darfur. Producing the award-winning film The Devil Came on Horseback. I realized that I would be correcting an ancestral wrong and carrying forward a family legacy. And so 3 Generations was born.
For nearly a decade 3 Generations has been a safe harbor for survivors of atrocities to tell their stories — brutal, tragic,inspiring, uplifting, in their own words — words that will be honored and preserved for generations to come. 3 Generations is dedicated to creating social justice films and videos as a means to educate, engage, empower and entertain. We believe that the stories we tell will bring change as well as fostering leadership, citizenship and inspiration in adults and youth to make a difference in our society. Our documentaries examine global and domestic atrocities, war crimes, genocide, trafficking, violence, homelessness, the criminal justice system and veterans issues. Our award-winning films have been distributed to libraries, schools, community organizations, television, cable, online streaming and theaters.
Jane Wells, Executive Director
Emily Hall, Head of Finance (on maternity leave)
Amandeep Gill, Finance
Francesco Portinari, Editor/Technical Director
Kelly Thoma, Production Manager
Sue Kim, Office Manager
Mytam Mayo-Smith and Maggie McNish, Interns
Florence Buchanan, Creative
Alana Salcer, Web and Graphic Designer
Lina Srivastava, Strategist
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Pamela Bell
Florence Buchanan
Caren Golden
Susan Holgate
Jeffrey Horowitz
Frances Lalas
Esther Pearlstone
Nicole Pombier
Brad Rothschild
Jackie Shapiro
Beth Taylor-Hart
Alexander Wells, Secretary
Jane Wells
Nadia Zilkha, Chair
Simon Brook
Rabbi Lee Bycel
Danielle Douglas
Larry Kopp
Judy McGrath
Lina Srivastava
Dr. Stephen Smith
David Bernstein
Katherine Binder
Simon Brook
Kevin Burke
Victoria Carlson
Margaret Columbia-Walsh
Stephen Friedman
Emily Hall & Jun Jumazawa
Jennifer George
Caren Golden & Peter Herzberg
Lynn Goldsmith
William Gorin
Michael Hamlyn
Beth & Christopher Hart
Judy McGrath & Mike Corbett
Paul McGuinness
MTV
Nickelodeon
Nicole Pombier & Jed Berger
Kim & Gavin Purcell
Robert Reif
David & Victoria Rintels
Lawrence Sarf
Jacqueline Shapiro
St James Trust
David Wells & Samantha Catalano
Cyma Zarghami
Nadia Zilkha
Susan Abdalla
Jack Anderson
Sheila Beggs
Dorothy Berwin&Dominique Levy
Stephen Brauer
Ulrika Citron
Cloud Cover Hats
Jeffrey Horowitz
Richard Dreizen
Holley Ellis
Roger & Irina Erickson
Rob Fernandez
Nila Festekjian
Darrell Gibson
Mita Haldar
Fred Hanna
Jennifer Leeds
Michael Lemle
Christina Lurie
Leslie Miller
Philadelphia Eagles
Sam & Sidsel Robards
Vashti Roebuck
Andrew Sarofim
Allison Saxe
Alice Schure
Victoria Teahan
Theatre For A New Audience
Jonathan Wells
Anonymous (2)
Magda Bogin
Florence Buchanan
Richard Charkham
Corey Cohen
Jessica Dibb
Adam Dolle
Marisa Fox-Bevilacqua
Kathy Graham
Maureen M. Goldman M.D.
Betsy Gootrad
Ivan Helfman
Lesley Heller
Lazer Herson
Jeffrey Horowitz
Glory Kadigan
Caryn Levitt & Jason Simotas
Jacqueline Long
Christina Lurie
Arnaud Mauvais
Richard McHugh
Deena Merlen
Marilyn Minter & Bill Miller
Particia Pincus
Joanna Schaffer
Danielle Schanz
Robin Schule
Eric Shiu
Jane Singer
Susan Smitman
Robbyn Sockolow
Katie Taylor & Patrice Hall
Alice Wells
Scott & Graciela Wetzler
Donna Zilkha
Anonymous (10)
Kamien Allen
Jill Anderson
Daniel Biasotti
Lucas Brader
Tarchelle Bryant
Deborah L. Calderone
Glenda Cameron
Caitlyn Carlson
George Carr
Jacqueline De Chollet
Alan Erskine
Julia Fleury
Emmanuelle Galland
Claudia Gould
Andrew Hampp
Raya Harris
Leo Herczog
Qouc Hoang
Karen Hsueh
Ping Huang
Mike Iannacone
Judith Kellner
Laura Lawee
Suzanne Lawee
Lisa Lementowski
Ethan Mass
Tracy Morrissey
Musuem of Sex
Sophie Nitkin
Tuan Nizam
Emily & Tom Philip
Tom Pietro
James Roberts
Jennifer Rosenacker
Brad Rothschild
Tom Sachs
Charles Schwanbeck
Karen Shaw
Zoya Simakhodskaya
Dawn Smith
Sarah Solfanelli
Kun Song
Lina Srivastava
James Steindecker
Laura Stucin
Allison Taylor & David Eddy
Nina Taylor
Teresa Taylor
Gretchen Templin
Henri Lustiger Thaler
Miguel Torres
David Valerio
James Von Etzdork
Dame Harriet Walter & Guy Paul
Delilah Wells
Katherine Wells
Nel & Bruce Woller
Xingwang Zheng
The Amberstone Trust
Adobe Systems Inc.
Anonymous
Dollar-a-day donors
David Bernstein
Florence Buchanan
Anne Diedrich
Abigail Disney & Pierre Hansen
Adam Dolle
William H. Donner Foundation
Ursula Gregg
Mary Hayley & Selim Zilkha
Mickey Lemle
Melony & Adam Lewis
Jackie Long
Judy McGrath & Mike Corbett
Arla McMillan
Victoria Rintels & David Riskin
Jackie Shapiro
The St. James’s Trust
Carol & Scott Stine
Leila & Mickey Straus Family Trust
Jonathan Wells
John P. & Anne Welsh McNulty
Nadia Zilkha
Nina & Michael Zilkha
Anonymous (7)
Jill Anderson
Devon Fredericks & Eli Zabar
John Gateley
Caren Golden
Joan & Keith Goldsmith
Jennifer George
Beth & Christopher Hart
Jeffrey Horowitz
Christina Lurie
Lutz & Carr, LLP
Joseph Mancino
Meredith O’Sullivan & JohnKeith Wasson
Nicki Pombier & Jed Berger
Henry Shohet
Alexander Wells
Juliet Wells
Charlie Wilson
Lucinda Zilkha
Anonymous (13)
Victoria & Sean Albuquerque James Berry
Damien Biggs
Judy & Lee Bycel
Rob Codo
Laura E. Durant
Vahid Fereydounkolahi
Brian Gallob
Dedrea Gray
Paul Herzberg
Mark Jones
Caryn Levitt & Jason Simotas
Paul MacGregor
Amanda Marmot & Mark Tandy
Jeanne McCulloch
Greg Meador
Alexander Morse
Maryanne Mott
Jim Ostry
Steven Paganelli
Martha Rhodes
Matt Rousseau
Leslie H. Russell
Diane Rutgers
Qing Song
Pamela Stanley
Marion Swaybill
Beth Wells & Alan Elkin
Delilah Wells
Anonymous (30)
Alva Adams
Timothy Aines
Mara Bacolod
Lance Berg
Karen Brauer
Brad Buck
Dale Anne Carter
Juan Chavez
Celina Cipriaso
David Collins
Robert Corti Jr.
Jeff Crownover
Dan Dale
Melissa & John Deming
Philippa Dennis
Brian M. DePamphilis
Jessica Dibb
Hannah Eddy
Edward Emmanuel
Thomas Ferraguto
Allison Flynn
Max Fritzel
Janet Gibb
Jim Glaze
Robert Goto
Kathy Graham
Jo-Ann Hall
Raya Harris
Jesse Hawkes
Kristina Hurrell
Cathy Ingram
Karmen Jelincich
Cindi Johnson
Andrea Kolb
Xiacong Lin
David R. Lind
Jianjun Liu
Dorothy Luk
John Lusignan
Jason Malaran
Jim McMahan
Sanjeev Mishra
River Morgan
Richie Nash
Prinkshop
Eugene Rick
Cheri Rymsza
Rita Salamone
Brian Schuster
Karl Shaffer
Karen Shaw
Howard Shoobe
Shayne Sledge
Dean Steinmetz
Lisa Talmadge
Richard Timbol
Xu Weidong
Alice Wells
Nicole Wesselman
Lynda Winslett
Elizabeth Woller
For all press related inquiries, please contact the TASC Group at (212)-337-8870 or by email at info@tascgroup.com
To book a screening of A Different American Dream. contact us at info@3generations.org
To book a screening of German Concentration Camps Factual Survey. contact us at GCCFS@3generations.org
For TRICKED semi-theatrical screenings or film rentals, contact Paul Marchant at paul@firstrunfeatures.com
For institutions/organizations interested in acquiring TRICKED for a permanent collection, contact Dylan McGinty at dylan@firstrunfeatures.com
To purchase access to Native Silence. contact Alexander Street Press here .