Josef & Maria

Israeli filmmaker Vered Berman's Josef & Maria is a haunting and deeply moving documentary about love being found in the unlikeliest of places by an unlikely couple. At the center of the story is Josef, a 70-year-old Holocaust survivor who as a child in the concentration camps was repeatedly raped by Nazi guards. The psychological devastation from the sexual abuse lingered throughout his adult life—Josef never married and preferred to spend his free time alone, while eking out a meager living as a waiter in a Jerusalem café. But then fate brought Maria, a German Christian on vacation in Israel, into Josef's café. Maria's deep religious beliefs drove her to serve as a one-woman atonement service for the wartime misdeeds of her countrymen, with much of her energies spent raising funds to help Israelis living in poverty. Josef, for the first time in his life, immediately fell in love, and Maria did likewise, helping to mend the pain that Josef had carried for so long. A beautiful, touching film, Josef & Maria offers a compelling confirmation of the old cliché about love conquering all. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)