SPIELBERG’S SISTER BRINGS HER HOLOCAUST FILM TO MONTREAL
Mention the name Spielberg and the Holocaust, and most will immediately associate the two with Schindler’s List, the staggering 1993 drama that won seven Oscars, including best picture and director for its maker Steven Spielberg.
But the Holocaust has also had an enormous impact on Steven’s youngest sister, Nancy Spielberg. She will be presenting a free screening of the poignant documentary Who Will Write Our History on Tuesday evening at the Beth Israel Beth Aaron Congregation in Côte St-Luc. Following the screening, Spielberg, who is the doc’s executive producer, and director Roberta Grossman will be on hand for a panel discussion.
Who Will Write Our History, based on a book of the same name by Samuel Kassow, focuses on the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto who fought back with pen and paper against the insidious propaganda perpetuated by the Nazis. The story comes to life through secret, buried archives discovered after the war that were compiled by historian Emanuel Ringelblum and other ghetto inhabitants. In the midst of all manner of atrocities and deportations to Nazi death camps, what emerges is a fascinating glimpse of all aspects of ghetto life — something so few were previously aware of.
The doc is complemented by stunning archival footage as well as dramatic re-enactments and narrations, some of which are voiced by actors Adrien Brody and Joan Allen.
“Nobody seems to have known this story; it was like the untold story of the Holocaust,” says Nancy Spielberg, who credits Grossman for bringing this story to her attention.
“Life inside the ghetto had so many diverse aspects, as noted in the archives. How amazing is it, that in the midst of people dying on the street, culture — music, theatre — was still so embraced. But that was part of what kept some alive.”
Although on a different level from her brother, Nancy Spielberg has quite the film pedigree as well. She studied cinema at Sarah Lawrence College and the New School, and worked both on and off-screen in a few of her brother’s earlier films.
“All of us had to work on his films then, otherwise he would beat us up,” she cracks. “But what he sees as a director is just amazing. He has such a gift.”
Following that apprenticeship with Steven, she was able to accrue an array of impressive production credits, including the award-winning Above and Beyond (also directed by Grossman), On the Map, and Mimi and Dona.
“I actually wanted to be a writer at first, but I grew up in a family immersed in film and storytelling. I was also being told to take my stories down a notch. So it was probably that kind of osmosis that led me into this business.
“I guess you could say the difference between my films and those of Steven are that mine are not for profit, and that there is a little difference in their budgets,” she jokingly understates.
Just a little difference. The budget for Who Will Write Our History — to be released in theatres January — came in around $2 million, which might be comparable to the snack budget on one of her brother’s films.
“What’s interesting is that my (Jewish) family grew up in non-Jewish Phoenix, Ariz., with no knowledge of the Holocaust at all,” she says. “There was never any discussion of the Holocaust in our family.
“So it was really quite the turn of events when my brother was given the book for Schindler’s List and was told by Universal Studios that this was the film he should direct. And he said: ‘No, I can’t touch this.’ And for 10 years, he kept trying to pass the film on to somebody else, because he was so afraid to screw up something of that magnitude.”
He soon overcame his fears, and Schindler’s List, while quite the departure from his usual fare, turned out to be his most praised and award-laden film.
“His experience with the film probably got me going in that direction, and even more so when he started the (USC) Shoah Foundation (Institute for Visual History and Education),” she says, in reference to the foundation that records testimonies of Holocaust survivors and witnesses.
Steven has been most supportive of his sister’s efforts on this front.
“He is very, very proud of his little sister, and he’s a little bit amazed because I did it on my own. On many occasions, he offered to lend us some guidance and other help as well, and I said: ‘No, we’re good,’ ” she cracks. “(Director Grossman) had her own vision, and we managed to raise all the money for the film by ourselves.”
And this just in: One Mr. Roth called Ryk Edelstein — featured in Thursday’s column — on Thursday morning to tell him the SAAQ phoned to inform him it had accepted ROTH as a vanity licence plate after the request had initially been rejected. Roth had gone on to order an alternate plate, but now it will be switched for his original choice. Coincidence?
He is very, very proud of his little sister, and he’s a little bit amazed because I did it on my own.