Interview with Big Sonia Documentary Filmmaker Leah Warshawski
You are an experienced filmmaker, but with Big Sonia, you are telling a story that is much more personal than any of your other projects and are working directly with family. How did that affect your filmmaking experience and your work approach?
Working with family is difficult, no matter what. For us, for me, making the film was the most time that I’d ever spent with my grandmother or with any of my family. There were a lot of layers that we had to peel back during production. What helped me get through it was that I didn’t live there full-time. We were traveling back and forth to Kansas City to make the movie, so there was distance in between because it was so intense. It was intense on so many levels and you’re learning so many new things during the process. It was intense and emotional on a level that I didn’t even really understand while I was going through it.
During the making, there was a lot of pressure to make the movie and to make it a success. All the energy was there. We had to do it, and we did it.
Do you foresee the growth and continued expansion and interest in her as a subject?
We didn’t. In fact, we have a second wind right now for the film because we’re getting ready for a national PBS launch in April. We had been rejected from PBS twice before, so we actually didn’t think it was an option. It feels like we’re releasing the film again. If you think about Sonia and how she’s preserved and how resilient she is, the film’s journey reflects that. She’s still going and so is the film.
Why is Sonia’s story so important, particularly now?
I think at this time in the world, we know that within our lifetime, all of the survivors will be gone. There is a time crunch to share the stories while survivors are alive and can speak to their stories. There’s been a rise in anti-semitic incidents and hate crime in the last couple of years, and a lot of teenagers don’t even know what the Holocaust was. It is a critical time. Time is running out while we have survivors left in the world. There’s no substitute for a witness being able to tell you about their story or share what they saw.
Why are testimonials, oral histories, survivor stories significant? What can they offer us today?
They offer a first-hand account of something that somebody witnessed that can’t be disputed in a time when facts are up for debate. Witnesses provide testimony that can’t be debated and that’s really powerful.
Why film? Why film in classrooms? Why film for stories like Sonia’s?
We’ve been fortunate enough to see first-hand the way that a film can change people’s lives. You spend enough time in movie theaters, you see that first-hand. We spent a long time on the road with this film and we saw how this impacted people. We saw people come back with their families and kids and see the film multiple times. We get letters from people. Sonia has received thousands and thousands of letters from kids who have watched the movie and changed their lives because of it.
Film provides a way to be totally engrossed in a story in an emotional way. If you make a film that people relate to, that’s when change happens. It has nothing to do with politics or if you’re Jewish or not. You relate to the film as a human, one aspect or another. Everyone takes something from this movie.
A film is a total sensory experience that puts you in a different place for a couple of hours. A documentary shares a story that you know is real, and when you find things that relate to your own life, it changes your life.
What does International Holocaust Remembrance Day mean to you?
In truth, it is a little bit trite to have one day when you are supposed to remember the Holocaust. I don’t know how other Jewish people feel about this. It’s so close because it happened in my family and Sonia isn’t the only survivor. There’s not a day when we don’t remember the Holocaust. For everyone in our family, there’s no way for us NOT to think about it.
At the same time, it’s nice that on that day there is more media attention, but for anyone who's been this close to it, it’s every day of the year.
Right now, there are only 11 or 12 states that are mandated to teach Holocaust education in their classrooms, so we need to start by getting Holocaust education into classrooms. We need people to agree that it’s important to teach the Holocaust. If this day offers an excuse to bring a unit into the classroom, that’s awesome. Maybe the day will give teachers an incentive to say we’re going to try this.
What does Sonia’s story provide to students who watch it?
Because Sonia was a teenager when she was in the concentration camps during the Holocaust, teenagers can relate to her. What teenagers look to and relate to is that they could have been her. They think, “she was my age. If she could get through that, what am I complaining about?” I think it is helpful for kids to watch now. They see themselves in her. It helps them put things in perspective.
What’s next for Big Sonia?
We are gearing up for a PBS launch in April. We are looking for partners and sponsors for that. We’re working with a company called Storyfile to create an interactive legacy interview with Sonia that will allow people to have a conversation with her in the future. We have a lot coming up.
To support Big Sonia, learn more and follow Sonia’s continued journey, check out https://bigsonia.com/. For a free CORE-based curriculum for the film, check out: https://journeysinfilm.org/product/big-sonia/.