Holy Holocaust

A dark family secret from the past is revealed unexpectedly and opens an abyss between two close friends: Jennifer, a German, discovers that she is the black granddaughter of a Notorious Nazi commander, and her life is turned upside down, while Noa, an Israeli, is doing whatever she can to prevent her life from turning around

Co-director/writer statement – Noa Berman-Herzberg For years I've been writing fiction screenplays, while my personal story, which could not be invented even if I tried, refused to give me peace; the story about Jennifer and me and the horrifying family secrets that shook our lives. It took time to figure out how to tell it, find the right genre (animation) and the perfect partner (Osi Wald). Now it is finally out. I started to work on this film while an abyss was growing between Jennifer and me and I wasn't completely sure why. I knew it was not a result of the revelation about the identity of Jennifer's biological Nazi grandfather, nor the revelation of the devastating history of my own Jewish family. Many questions were asked until I slowly realized that it was what we discovered about ourselves once those historic truths exploded in our faces; our different perspectives toward life, fate, destiny and more. But above all toward the past and allowing it to influence our present. In more than one-way Holy Holocaust is a journey into the depth of this abyss. Director’s Statement Osi Wald & Noa Berman-Herzberg: Animation enabled us not only to recreate the events that occurred in the past, but also to explore and expose their hidden layers: the personal, the cultural and the historical subconscious. In the world of HOLY HOLOCAUST - the real and the surreal, the past and the present, the conscious and the sub conscious are interwind. Holy Holocaust is a story of two women; an Israeli and a German, who discover in their mid-life that they are both 3rd generation to the Holocaust from opposite sides. It is a story of a long and meaningful friendship that is strongly affected by History, yet in an unexpected way. At the same time, it is a film about feminine friendship, made by two women, that explores the complexities, depth and boundaries of female relationship and of oneself as it confronts pure darkness. During our mutual creative process, we found ourselves wavering about ethical, moral and somewhat existential matters, forcing us to confront our deepest personal and cultural phobias and wounds. Nevertheless in order to remain true to the story, the characters and to our own creative personalities – we allowed ourselves to use one of our strongest "survival weapons" – humor.