Gere narrates Fanya Heller documentary

NEW YORK, April 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. television network Thirteen says it will air "Teenage Witness: The Fanya Heller Story," a documentary narrated by Richard Gere.

The program is based on "Love in a World of Sorrow," the 1993 memoir by Holocaust survivor Fanya Gottesfeld Heller. It is to air April 11.

"'Teenage Witness' is a raw and emotional look at survival through an unfiltered narrative lens," Thirteen said in a news release Tuesday. "Only through the kindness of a Polish peasant did Fanya and her family survive -- hidden beneath a chicken coop with her parents and brother for two and a half years. Fanya's story resonates with the extremes of fear, starvation and a remarkable tenacity of spirit even as death is slowly seeping in against life."

"What is most important to me about making this film is that this is another medium of reaching people -- particularly the younger generations -- who must be exposed to lessons in courage and tolerance, as well as to the dangers of prejudice and baseless hatred," Heller, 85, said in a statement.