Young filmmakers awarded for tale of Holocaust survivor

It’s not often that twenty-somethings are given the chance to tell a 99-year-old Holocaust survivor’s harrowing story on screen, but clearly Jordy Sank and Gabriella Blumberg had the magic touch. Their film received the Audience Award for best documentary at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival on 11 March 2021.

Sank, the director, and producer Blumberg’s feature-length documentary I Am Here, depicts Ella Blumenthal’s Holocaust testimony as never before.

“It’s an unprecedented time, when you don’t have cinemas and the audience next to you, laughing and crying, so to get the Audience Award is really validating for us,” says Blumberg.

Sank, a Herzlia alumnus, has wanted to make this film since he was a teenager from the moment he met Blumenthal. “I’ve met many Holocaust survivors before, but none were quite like her. I was at a Shabbat dinner, and I remember her telling some really harrowing stories about her experience in the concentration camps. Then a few minutes later, she was dancing and singing. That struck me – that one could go from the pits of hell and come out alive, and still have this positive outlook.”

The film opens with dramatic scenes of antisemitism in the 21st century, including the infamous Charlottesville rally in 2018, emphasising that the discrimination Blumenthal faced is alive and well.. The film uses 2D animation to bring her memories to life, “allowing the audience to be there with her”, says Sank.

This is achieved through beautiful, heart wrenching, but understated scenes. We are there as Blumenthal and her few remaining family members hide in the Warsaw ghetto and watch as it burns to the ground. We are there in the overcrowded cattle car that takes her to Majdanek, and we are taken inside a gas chamber where she thought her final moments would be. In between, Sank allows the audience to join Blumenthal’s intimate 98th birthday celebration, where she laughed, cried, and remembered with her family. Through it all, one gets to know a woman who has an irrepressible zest for life, an unshakeable faith, and endless gratitude.

Blumberg, a King David Linksfield alumnus, and Sank have been passionate about theatre, drama, storytelling, and film since a young age. After studying film and working in the advertising industry, Sank started his own film company. Blumberg, meanwhile, studied at acclaimed London institutions and was working in filmmaking and teaching drama. The two knew each other from Bnei Akiva camp, and when they bumped into each other and Sank shared his aspiration to make a film about Blumenthal’s life, Blumberg immediately wanted to get on board.

The team knew that time was of the essence, and once they had Blumenthal and her family’s agreement, they moved quickly to start filming, beginning in March 2019. A year later, when the pandemic hit, they were already in post-production.

”We felt that it was now or never,” Sank says. “People needed to be inspired by this amazing woman, to hear what she has been through.”

While the film was mostly privately funded, they were also given a grant by the Claims Conference, which backed Oscar-winning Holocaust film, Son of Saul.

For Sank, the toughest scene to direct was “when Ella saw her father for the last time … especially because this was contrasted with beautiful memories from childhood. There was so much raw emotion.”

For Blumberg, the scene where Blumenthal’s niece, Roma, (her only surviving family member) comes to her at Auschwitz and says that they should give up and electrocute themselves on the fence, was heartbreaking and meaningful.

“Ella says no, and she recalls that at that moment ‘the will of survival was awakened in me’. It would have been easy to give up, and to find that strength not only for yourself but for your last family member… it’s remarkable,” she says.

Sank says they wanted to show how full and vibrant Blumenthal’s life is now, as well as the busy, beautiful life which was stolen by the Shoah. One scene of Blumenthal swimming recalls how “she loved to swim ever since she was a young girl. Her brother taught her, and she used to swim in the Vistula River every day in Warsaw.

“In the film, she talks about her first bath after liberation, and she was still swimming almost every day before the pandemic. It epitomises her zest for life,” says Blumberg. “When we were shooting that scene, we said, ‘Do one or two laps, then take a break’. But she insisted on swimming ten laps. She didn’t stop for a second!” says Sank.

Asked about the meaning of the film’s title, I Am Here, Blumberg says, “When she was in the camps, a Nazi saw her tattoo and asked, ‘Why are you still here? There is no one else with your numbers left.’ She is still here … and with this film, her story will continue forever.”

The pair hopes that the film will be a “catalyst for conversation about the danger of discrimination”. In addition, they hope people will be inspired by Ella’s personality. “A year into COVID-19, everyone has experienced trauma, so we hope people will leave the film with her sense of joy and gratitude,” Blumberg says.

Blumenthal says she feels “honoured and humbled that my life story has been recorded. While the film focuses on my life, I feel privileged to be able to represent the millions who perished and perhaps I can in some small way speak for them too.

“It’s very difficult for me to re-live my experience, which is why it took me so long to be able to share it,” she says. “But seeing it on screen made me feel proud and also made me wonder how I actually managed to survive and then go on to raise a family and live a normal life. It also made me realise that even though Hitler tried to destroy us, we are here, stronger than ever.”

Blumenthal says she enjoyed making the film. “There were many full days and many different locations. But I had a lot of fun with the crew, and I even had nicknames for each one of them. Jordy made me feel so comfortable and relaxed, so it was easier for me to re-live my life story.”

She hopes the message will be passed from generation to generation. “Antisemitism is rampant at the moment, so it’s important that we counter it. I also would like people to see that understanding and love are necessary in place of hate and bigotry. In that way, it’s possible to live a life filled with joy and happiness no matter the difficulties one encounters.”

Her take on the title is that, “Throughout my life and during the darkest times, I would always say that I was grateful to be here, and to be spared. Every morning, I’m thankful for another day. This mantra eventually became the obvious choice for the film’s title.”

• The film is showing on film festival circuits. To find out when it will be released locally, follow @sankturyfilms on Instagram and Facebook.