Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival Begins
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival kicked off on Sunday.
This year, the festival created by the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara is being held at the new SBIFF Film Center on the 900 block of State St.
People packed the afternoon screening of "My Underground Mother" by director Marisa Fox.
A Q&A with Fox followed her award-winning documentary.
The film shows how Fox uncovered her mother's hidden past.
Fox discovered her late mother's writing in a journal written by prisoners in a Nazi women's camp. But her mother is not portrayed as a victim, but rather a freedom fighter, spy and femme fatale.
The journalist, who also worked in music and fashion, said her mother's story had been gnawing at her since she was a kid.
"It was a challenge retaining my journalistic neutrality or objectivity and keeping my feelings out of it, "said Fox, " I didn't know where this would lead, I was just astounded, I didn't know my own mother had this other identity, I had suspected that she had secrets, because who constantly tells their kid 'no more questions' unless they have something to hide."
Friends, family and the children of Holocaust survivors attended the screening and applauded following the lengthy credits.
"It started with the shock of not knowing who my mother was, and as my college roommate can attest she wasn't always the easiest person, and there was a lot of friction between us and when she died I tried to get her to open up a little bit and she couldn't, so, I kind of felt unresolved about my relationship with her and I wanted to know more about who she was, where she came from and thought this would give me, maybe not closure but a sense of understanding," said Fox.
To learn more about the film visit, https://myundergroundmother.com
The Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival has daily screenings through Nov. 8th.
For more information visit, https://sbjewishfilmfestival.org
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