From Director Laura Bialis
Twenty years ago, while attending a lecture by Elie Wiesel in Santa Barbara, I was introduced to Mara Vishniac Kohn, the daughter of photographer Roman Vishniac. At that time, Vishniac was best known for his images of poor and pious Jews across Eastern Europe (including in Elie Wiesel’s hometown of Sighet). The photos were taken just a few years before the Holocaust would destroy their entire civilization. Sitting in the dimly lit theater, Mara recounted, in vivid detail, the story of her family’s dramatic escape from Nazi Germany. I remember thinking – this is a movie!
The encounter made a deep impact. I visited with Mara again and went to see her father’s collection at a gallery in New York City. While other films took me all over the world, I had always hoped to come back to Santa Barbara and work with Mara on a film about her father. I got my wish.
Now we are well on our way to making VISHNIAC, and I couldn't be more excited. It's a story that feels more important to me now than ever, in the face of rising antisemitism and fading ties to the Holocaust. As more survivors pass away, we're losing those who experienced it first-hand. However, one thing we'll never lose are the faces portrayed in Vishniac's photographs, faces that could be those of our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. They speak to us across time and space and compel us never to forget.
Who Was Roman Vishniac?
Only one of the most important photographers of the 20th Century! He was also fascinating, flawed, brilliant, unpredictable and unbelievably prolific.
Over a fifty-year career, Roman Vishniac captured some 16,000 images, not only of Eastern European Jewry on the brink of destruction, but pre-war Berlin, refugees in the United States, post-war Germany and even Israel, in full color, at the end of the 1967 War. Although little known today, Vishniac also used the camera as a tool for scientific inquiry, pioneering the field of micro-photography, giving us a closer look at the world around us.
Despite Vishniac’s monumental contributions to Jewish history and culture, a full-length, retrospective film about his life and work has never been produced. Our film will be the first.
The Film
VISHNIAC tells the story of the legendary photographer, his family’s epic and painful saga, and the creation of an enormous body of work of which the Eastern European images are only the most famous fraction. The film takes viewers on a journey, from the cosmopolitan streets of Weimar Berlin, to the shtetls of Eastern Europe, through war-torn Europe and wartime New York City and even to unexpected places like Antarctica and the Princeton offices of Albert Einstein. Our guide on the journey is Vishniac’s daughter Mara Vishniac Kohn, who grappled with the complexities of her famous father, and who, upon his death in 1990, became the sole custodian of his legacy. Mara's vivid, honest recollections anchor a film that is more than a straight-ahead biography of a fascinating figure, but in fact, a dramatic tale of survival, creative genius, family struggle, dislocation, reinvention and resilience.
How You Can Help
We’re thrilled that we recently received a grant of $75,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support the writing of the script, archival research, consultation with scholars and some shooting which we expect to complete soon. We are now raising money for the next stage so that we can complete principal photography by the end of this year. This includes key interviews and dramatic reenactments.
Funds from this campaign will pay for shooting days including:
- Small camera crew (Cinematographer, Assistant Cameraperson, Sound Recordist)
- Camera equipment rental
- Travel
Perks
We are offering unique perks including never-before-seen Roman Vishniac family photos and a Vishniac viewfinder! You know you've gotta have it!
The VISHNIAC Team
Producer/Director: Laura Bialis
Laura Bialis is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her most recent film, Rock in the Red Zone (2015) is a personal view from the ground in war-torn Sderot, Israel, and an exploration into the lives of musicians creating in a conflict zone. The film screened in over 80 cities worldwide, was released on iTunes and On-Demand platforms in 70 countries, and is currently on Netflix. Bialis directed and produced the acclaimed documentary Refusenik (2007), about the movement to free Soviet Jews, which was released theatrically in fifteen cities before going to Amazon Prime and iTunes. She co-directed and produced View From the Bridge: Stories From Kosovo (2008), which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival, was broadcast in Europe, and has been used by the EU and NATO for training staff working in Kosovo. Bialis’ film Tak For Alt: Survival of a Human Spirit (1998), the story of Holocaust survivor turned civil rights activist Judy Meisel, was honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and broadcast on PBS. The film has been used in schools across the United States for Holocaust education. Daybreak Berlin (2001), Bialis’ MFA thesis film, chronicles the experiences of artist and anti-Nazi resistance activist Ilse-Margret Vogel in Berlin during the last days of the war. Bialis holds a B.A. in History from Stanford University and an M.F.A. in Production from the University of Southern California School of Cinema Arts.
Producer: Roberta Grossman
Roberta Grossman has written, directed and produced more than 40 hours of film and television. Her current film, Who Will Write Our History, about the secret archive of the Warsaw Ghetto, screened at the 2019 Berlinale and was recently released in theaters. In 2018, she co-directed Netflix original documentary film Seeing Allred, about women's rights attorney Gloria Allred -- which premiered at Sundance. Grossman’s 2012 Hava Nagila (The Movie) uses the song Hava Nagila as a portal into 150 years of Jewish history, culture and spirituality. Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh, Grossman’s 2008 film, was shortlisted for an Academy Award, aired on PBS, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy and won the audience award at 13 film festivals. Grossman directed Above and Beyond (2014), for producer Nancy Spielberg, about the American–Jewish WWII pilots who volunteered to fight in Israel’s War of Independence. Grossman also produced Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning, which aired on PBS/American Masters.
Executive Producer: Nancy Spielberg
Producer Nancy Spielberg grew up immersed in filmmaking, working on her brother's early films as cast and crew. An accomplished businesswoman and philanthropist, she has turned her energy and talents to producing documentary and feature films. One of her priorities is to help preserve stories and make them into educational tools for the benefit of younger generations. Spielberg produced Above and Beyond, winner of the audience award at more than twenty film festivals. She was executive producer of Sophie Sartain's documentary, Mimi and Dona, which was broadcast nationally on PBS in 2015. She is executive producer of Who Will Write Our History, about the secret archive of the Warsaw Ghetto, directed by Roberta Grossman, and On the Map, a documentary by filmmaker Dani Menkin. She also served as consulting producer on GI JEWS: Jewish Americans in World War II, which aired on PBS for Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2018. Spielberg served as consultant on the Oscar-winning film, Chernobyl Heart, and is executive producer of Elusive Justice: The Search for Nazi War Criminals, which aired nationally on PBS.
Writer: Sophie Sartain
Sophie Sartain is the co-director and producer of the Netflix Original Documentary Seeing Allred, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. She wrote, directed, produced and shot the documentary Mimi and Dona, which aired nationally on PBS in 2015 and was named one of the top-ten TV programs of the year by The New York Times. Sartain's other credits include the 2014 documentary Above and Beyond (writer); the 2012 documentary Hava Nagila (The Movie) (writer/producer); and the Emmy-nominated 2008 film Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (writer/co-producer). She has contributed as a writer and consultant on Who Will Write Our History (2018), Ishi's Return (2016), Rock in the Red Zone (2015), Hotel Everest (2017), and Feminists: What Were They Thinking (2018). Sartain is a member of New Day Films and has been a film envoy with the American Film Showcase, a diplomacy program run by State Department in partnership with the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Director of Photography: Harris Done
Harris Done has worked in many genres over the past 25 years. Most notable has been his long documentary collaboration with director James Moll. Their work includes the 1999 Academy Award-winning feature documentary The Last Days for executive producer Steven Spielberg, and the Emmy Award-winning Inheritance. Done lensed the epic Running the Sahara, produced and narrated by Matt Damon, the Grammy winning Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, Price for Peace, Farmland and Obey Giant, a biography of American artist and muralist Shepard Fairey. Done’s other D.P. credits include the HBO original documentary If you’re not in the obit, eat breakfast, Boston, Above and Beyond, Vows of Silence, From a Whisper to a Roar, and the cult classic Trekkies. In addition to his cinematography work, Harris has written, produced and directed dramatic features including Purgatory Flats, Storm starring Martin Sheen and the Sand Trap. He also directed the documentaries War Dogs of the Pacific and Always Faithful.
Editor: Chris Callister
Chris Callister is the editor of the Netflix Original Documentary Seeing Allred, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was singled out by The New York Times for its “excellent and well edited collection of news footage.” In 2018, Callister also served as an editor on the Netflix Original Documentary Series Evil Genius. Other editing credits include Mimi and Dona (2015), Above and Beyond (2014) and Hava Nagila (The Movie) (2012). In addition, he was assistant editor and post-production supervisor on Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (2008). Callister has edited for The History Channel, Universal Sports Network and the Sundance Institute. Other production credits include music and concert videos for The Killers (writer, director and editor); the feature film Cyrus (apprentice editor); and the short film The Liar (writer, director and editor), which screened at numerous festivals including the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Callister received his master's degree in film production from USC.