Black Flowers

Florida Premiere

This touching new film from Tammy Federman (MJFF 2019 film Cellfish) tells the inspiring story of five Holocaust survivors who choose art as a vehicle for healing the wounds of their past. Now in their 80s and settled in Israel, they offer a new perspective on this timeless tragedy as they strive to express their long-suppressed memories through their unique works of art. An undeniable bond soon becomes visible between the horrors they experienced and the artistic expression they find in each of their creative portrayals of their lost childhoods. A quietly impressive testament to the tenaciousness of the human spirit, Black Flowers follows the sculptor Saadya Bahat, who lost his entire family in the camps; the multidisciplinary artist Tommy Brayer, who was born in a ghetto and survived due to his mother’s wit and strength; the painter Ruthi Goren, who spent her youth in a children’s orphanage during the war; Jenny Rozenstein, who reclaims her childhood, brutally taken from her, through her colorful, playful paintings; and Esther Goldman, whose embroidery work enabled her and her mother to survive the war.

Accompanying the film premiere is a discussion with director Tammy Federman and moderator Susan Gladstone, the Executive Director of the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. To view the conversation please click here.