A Small Light, a limited series about a woman who helped hide Anne Frank and her family during the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, debuts on Nat Geo May 1, and turns up on Disney Plus and Hulu a day later. The series is the true story of a young woman named Miep Gies. It “looks at the way in which an ordinary woman like Miep stood up to evil in the world — and became a heroine in doing so,” said Nat Geo.
Bel Powley plays Miep and Liev Schreiber portrays Anne Frank’s father, Otto.
Carolyn Bernstein, executive VP of global scripted content at Nat Geo, said she had never heard of Gies when the project was mentioned. “Miep and her extraordinary story was totally new to me,” she told B+C. “She was the most inspiring, extraordinary ordinary person, and an everyday superhero.”
There are eight episodes.
Gies worked for Anne Frank’s father, first making jam and then moving up to secretary. As things grew more perilous for Jewish people in the Netherlands, she agreed to help the family hide in the rooms above Otto’s office, Miep bringing them food and supplies. After Anne Frank was killed, Gies delivered her diaries to Otto.
Bernstein called it “the most inspiring, aspirational story. It’s hard to put into words how inspired I am.”
A Small Light shot in Prague and Amsterdam. The title comes from a quote from Gies, where she said, “Even an ordinary secretary or housewife or a teenager can turn on a small light in a dark room.”
The showrunners, husband and wife duo Joan Rater and Tony Phelan, spent six years researching the story, Bernstein said. Visiting the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam, they were told that many children don’t know Frank’s story until they arrive at the museum. “They thought that telling the story through Miep’s point of view was a fresh way to tell the story, to make sure people know the story and don’t forget the story,” Bernstein said.
Gies is a fun character, bold and brave, a bit of a partyer, with a good sense of humor. Bernstein said Powley, whose credits include The Morning Show and The King of Staten Island, brings “levity and romance and humor and wit and vulnerability and incredible courage” to the role. “She puts everything in an actor’s arsenal into a role in a way that we dream of. She fulfilled our fantasy of what this role could be. We got lucky.”
Schreiber only added to the “dream casting,” Bernstein said. “They both read the script and found it impossible to say no.”
While the series is set in World War II, it is timely today, Bernstein said, because prejudice and fascism are, unfortunately, alive and well. “The idea that an ordinary person, an everyday person, can make a difference in the fight against intolerance, prejudice, fascism and hatred is all too timely a notion,” Bernstein said.
She hopes the series pushes viewers to ask themselves what they would do should they find themselves in Miep’s situation. “Would the audience have the same moral clarity, rise to the occasion and do the right thing?” Bernstein asked.
The reviews are positive. Variety called the series “a profound take” on Anne Frank’s timeless story. “In A Small Light, as in life, there are no innocent bystanders, only people who refuse to act. Ultimately, Miep preserved history with Anne’s diary. She returned the young girl’s words to her brokenhearted father, the sole survivor out of the eight hidden in the annex. A Small Light showcases humanity’s wounds, and what’s at stake if people refuse to stand up to evil.”
The New York Times, for its part, called the series “a handsome, literate and moving production.”
Bernstein described A Small Light as “a call to action” for anyone who encounters hatred today.
“Everyone should know this story and soon everyone will,” Bernstein said. “I feel really privileged to tell it.”
