The Book Thief – New WWII movie to premiere in B.R.

In theaters Friday: Nebraska
New on Blu-ray: Frances Ha, Man of Steel, Prince Avalanche

Not unlike The Diary of Anne Frank, The Book Thief promises an enlightening view of the horrors of war and the Holocaust through the innocent and remarkable eyes of a child.

Kicking off events for the 2014 sequel to its successful and inaugural fest back in the spring, the Louisiana International Film Festival is hosting a pre-release screening of the Nazi Germany set period drama The Book Thief tonight at Cinemark’s Perkins Rowe theater. Seating begins at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 7:30 p.m.

Based on the acclaimed 2006 novel by Markus Zusak, the film adaptation is directed by Brian Percival of Downtown Abbey fame and boasts the latest score from legendary composer John Williams (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter).

Staring Emily Watson and Geoffery Rush, the film follows a young foster girl, played by up-and-coming French-Canadian actress Sophie Nelisse, who clings to contraband books for hope and inspiration amid the war and racial uproar of Munich in the 1930s. As bombs go off above her, she shares her treasured literature with her neighbors and friends, and these books become an unlikely connection between her and the young Jewish man her kind caretakers are hiding in their basement from the eye of Third Reich.

For more information on this special screening and the Louisiana International Film Festival, click here. Watch the trailer for The Book Thief below: