"...Within our lifetime all of the Holocaust Survivors will be gone…”
So muses filmmaker Leah Warshawski who set out over a decade ago to capture the story of Sonia, a holocaust survivor who has a unique ability to quickly bond with the many with whom she crosses paths, and who uses her boundless energy to make sure the message of Never Again is given a human face. That the title character of her film, Big Sonia, also happens to be her grandmother created unique challenges and plus sides for Warshawski.
Now, as our air waves are consumed with pundits likening Putin to Hitler, Big Sonia is about make its national debut on public television. Here, Picture This Post (PTP) talks to Leah Warshawski (LW) about the story behind the story of making Big Sonia.
(PTP)Please tell Picture This Post readers why you thought Sonia’s story would be an inspirational one to capture in a documentary format?
(LW) Sometimes the really big stories come from the smallest places! As filmmakers, we travel all over the world chasing stories about people making an impact. Then we realized some of those stories are right in our own backyards. Even into her late 80s, my grandmother Sonia ran a small tailoring shop, John’s Tailoring, and enjoyed a steady stream of loyal customers. My extended family had long joked about using the shop as the subject of a reality show. We'd all long witnessed Sonia holding court from her counter-top podium, doling out marriage advice, recommending WWII books to teenagers, and doing interviews for local news stations. We knew Sonia had a gift for making anyone in her shop feel like they were the most important person in the world. And we knew the shop was her own refuge from the horrors of her past as a teenage Holocaust survivor.
It became clear to us that customers were drawn to John’s Tailoring not just for gossip and human connection, but also for their own redemption. They came in because Sonia sets a glowing example of how an ordinary person can move past deep personal and historical trauma to find peace and heal others.
What are the challenges of making a film about a family member?
How much time do you have?! (just kidding) So many challenges and nuances…Mainly the heavy feeling of obligation to ensure the film does well and reaches the broadest audience possible. Everyone put in so much time and energy into making Big Sonia, it was important to the family that the film succeeded in the world. No pressure, right?! 🙂
Our time with Sonia revealed her complex side. Her interactions with the public are very different from her relationships with her family, which have often been tense and tender, overshadowed by decades of survivor's guilt and post-traumatic stress. During the course of production, we began to perceive the trauma suffered not just by Sonia, but by my aunts and father, who had survived the trauma of a household gripped by grief and loss. As a third-generation survivor, I also began to see the ways in which Sonia's pain had branded me, the grandchild of refugees, and the child of a parent who'd long grappled with his own mother's pain.
Did you learn anything surprising about Sonia, your grandmother, while making this film?
Yes! I learned that my 96-year old grandmother can drink more than me, stay up later than me, and party way harder than me! I also learned about her capacity for joy, awe, and wonder…all qualities I aspire to have more of. Also, during the middle of production, the plot turned. Sonia’s shop got an eviction notice. Her panic was palpable. And while we knew Sonia would survive the physical loss of hershop, we were also compelled by her store's symbolic role as a forum for human connection: a stronghold and a place of safety for Sonia and so many others.
In the film you focus on Sonia’s work meeting with school groups and prisoners. Why was it an important part of her story to show?
Our intent from Day 1 was to make a film that would be engaging and entertaining for a younger audience, including teenagers. Teenagers relate to Sonia in a unique way because she was their age during the war, and when she speaks to them they think about their own families. Her personality and her moxie are also appealing for teens who adore her leopard print and her sense of style. When she goes to prisons, the inmates relate intimately to her story as well… and she feels like she understands incarcerated men and women because she herself was in a prison of sorts. There is a scene at Lansing Correctional Facility is one of the most impactful in the film and it’s always what audiences want to talk about afterwards. We wanted to show it because it’s something that we haven’t seen before in other films about the Holocaust - and it impacted us personally.
You set out to make this project over 10 years ago. What were your goals then, and have they changed over the years?
We set out to make a short film and it turned into a feature…now more than 12 years and a decade of my life. We had our first public screening of Big Sonia the day after the 2016 presidential election. We had no way of knowing then that the themes of our film would find new relevance.
Sonia's life story has been called an antidote to the hate and fear we see around us, and we hope that is true. But the real lesson of Big Soniais that we've all got the capacity to combat the worst of humanity. Like Sonia, we all have the opportunity to create for others the places of comfort and connection where survival takes root.
What do you hope the next generation knows about the Holocaust, and Sonia's story?
I hope the next generation understands why the Holocaust happened, and that it could happen again if we don’t learn from history. Within our lifetime all of the Holocaust Survivors will be gone, so we’re at a fever-pitch right now trying to share Sonia’s story through the film so that we can have the biggest impact possible. Despite featuring a Holocaust survivor, Big Soniais not a Jewish movie, and it’s not a Holocaust movie. Big Sonia is a story about humanity: our human potential to overcome even the worst of the world's sins and atrocities with compassion and understanding. It's a tale about survival, yes, but not only the heroic kind—the kind that is forced upon victims of genocide. It's also about the everyday acts of survival we all undertake just to be human: to overlook slights; to rise above bigotry, ignorance and self-doubt; to push for forgiveness even when our instincts urge retribution or bitterness.
Can you give us a brief update about Sonia?
Sonia is (unfortunately) still driving to work as much as she can. She gets speeding tickets all the time but since the officers all know her, they let her off with warnings :). Sonia loves PBS! Although I’m not sure she understands that her film will now reach millions of people around the country.
Editor’s Note: For more information, visit the Big Sonia website.
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Photos: Gloria Baker Feinstein
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