Golda Maria
Synopsis
Before us sits an 84-year-old grandmother, positioned in her Parisian lounge opposite the amateur camera of her grandson Patrick Sobelman. It’s 29 October 1994 and over the course of three days, this woman will tell her life story, picking out recollections as they come to her, reaching back, more or less accurately, into the deepest recesses of her memory, prompted by the man in front of her, whose only aim was to preserve a family trace of this woman’s extraordinary existence, from the years spent in her native Poland to her youth in Berlin; from life in occupied France to that in the camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen, before her eventual return to “normal” life in the French capital. It’s a dramatic saga which is as captivating as it is moving, and which, almost 25 years later, the one-time videographer (who has since become a seasoned producer) chose to turn into a feature-length documentary, co-directed with his son Hugo Sobelman and unveiled in a Special Screening at the 70th Berlinale 2020. (Fabien Lemercier, Cineropa)
Credits
Director(s)
Patrick SOBELMAN, Hugo SOBELMAN
Producer(s)
Muriel Meynard, Carine Ruszniewski
Script
Hugo Sobelman, Patrick Sobelman
Cinematography
Patrick Sobelman
Editor
Hugo Sobelman
Original Language
French
Subtitles
English
Sound designer
Najib El Yafi
World Sales
MK2
Festival Highlights
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WINNER
Artistic Achievement in Holocaust-related FilmJerusalem International Film Festival2020
Berlinale, Germany, Official Selection, 2020
Cinéma du Réel, France, Official Selection, 2020
FIF Namur International Film Festival, France, Official Selection, 2020
Jerusalem International Film Festival, Israel, 2020
Reviews
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"“Enlightening. A genuine, real and raw glimpse into the power of humanity and our innate ability for survival which is both moving and inspirational.”"
- Jonathan Marshall - The Upcoming
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"“A testimony of inestimable human and historical value in memory of a woman who experienced a dramatically exceptional fate ... Inevitably elicits great emotion.”"
- Fabien Lemercier - Cineuropa
