BIJFF14 REVIEW: Blue Tattoo [2014]

“Religion is a big deal with her, but she has a problem with God” Despite acknowledging it’s a well-made film, I was disappointed by Oscar-winning short The Lady in Number 6 because of its subject’s attitude towards surviving the Holocaust. Her unique concentration camp circumstances inexplicably allowed her to let the experience wash away so she could be grateful it led to a second lease on life. I simply can’t reconcile that way of thinking. In my mind a survivor must be more like Elmira, NY resident Dina Jacobson: a…

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REVIEW: The Lady In Number 6 [2013]

“Calmness is strength” Despite starting with a smile watching 109-year old Alice Herz Sommer playing classical music on her piano, we know there will be more to The Lady In Number 6 than simply learning how beloved she is to those in her building woken at 10am to the sounds of Chopin and Bach. It’s in her age, face, and Czech accent where thoughts of WWII and the Nazis conjure our wonder as to when the tragic circumstances of her freedom will be introduced. But somehow her telling it doesn’t…

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