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Film Search
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Aida's Secrets
Documentary
At some point, refugees escape their home countries—nations torn apart by war, famine, earthquake or some other unthinkable tragedy. The lucky few find asylum and begin new lives. The unlucky are sent home, stuck in camps, berated by their new countrymen, or die. Even the lucky ones—imagine the word “lucky” in air quotes—find their lives altered in ways that affect them for generations to come. As related in Alon & Saul Schwarz’s documentary, Aida—a Polish-born World War II survivor—sends her two young sons, Isak and Shepsel, away after the war. Isak goes alone to Israel, Shepsel to Canada with his father. When the brothers find each other 60 years later, they have questions for their mother, with whom Isak has had fleeting contact, but she’s still so traumatized she deflects their inquiries with “I don’t remember.” Aida’s Secrets is so intimate it’s almost uncomfortable. Aida accepts Shepsel, but keeps him in the dark; Isak is similarly stymied. It’s sad at times, but it’s a fascinating study of making the best choices in the worst circumstances, and fallout that continues for years and years after.
Official Site: www.musicboxfilms.com/aida-s-secrets-movies-144.php
Director: Alon Schwarz and Shaul Schwarz
Writer: Halil Efrat and Alon Schwarz
Producer: Gudrun Ghomri, Barak Heymann, Guy Lavie and Alon Schwarz
Director: Alon Schwarz and Shaul Schwarz
Writer: Halil Efrat and Alon Schwarz
Producer: Gudrun Ghomri, Barak Heymann, Guy Lavie and Alon Schwarz
