Yizkor Remembrance Documentary by Ruth Fertig DVD Appropriate for ages 16 and older.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT  USA
Winner of the 2010 Student Academy Award Gold Medal for Documentary, Ruth Fertig’s Yizkor (Remembrance) uses animation by Jeanne Stern, archival film, home movies and Super 8 footage to tell her grandmother’s story of survival and resilience in the face of crushing loss. 

 Like many Holocaust survivors, Liselotte Fertigova never spoke with her children about her experiences during the war. After her death, the family uncovered a memoir she had written in the last years of her life. With surprising frankness and humor, Liselotte’s words convey the day-to-day realities of a pregnant woman and young mother struggling to keep her family alive inside the Theresienstadt concentration camp. In telling her grandmother’s very personal story, Fertig employs an inventive visual style.

Director Ruth Fertig
Animation Jeanne Stern
Voice of Liselotte Fertigova Lotte Knoller

About the Director

Ruth Fertig has a B.A. from Columbia University and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a Hutchison Endowed Fellow. She is the recipient of grants from CINE, University Film and Video Association, and Texas Cable and Telecommunications Association. Fertig’s previous short films are Two Spirits, a portrait of Native American gay rights activist Joey Criddle, and The Cockroach Project, which aired on the Documentary Channel in 2010. Fertig has worked on non-fiction television projects for ABC, NBC, History Channel, A&E, Discovery, Animal Planet and the Disney Channel. She lives in New York City.

Awards

Student Academy Award™, Gold Medal, Documentary 2010
Cine Golden Eagle Award, Student Division, documentary 2010
Special Mention: Jewish Women’s Film Festival, New York City 2010
Best Student Documentary, Nashville Jewish Film Festival 2010