Orna Ben-Dor Niv

In January 1989 the first Message to Man International Film Festival took place in Leningrad. This film, made during the festival, is a record of its events, guests and participants, such as the American director Leo Hurwitz, the Latvian director Ivars Seleckis, and the ballerina Natalya Makarova, among others. It also shows the “engine room” of the festival: the work of the main office and the PROKKa professional cinematographers’ club, guests being greeted and seen off. A charity evening with Natalya Makarova, a memorial service to commemorate the victims of the war and excerpts of documentary films presented at the festival are also featured.

"Oy Mama" is a touching film that tells the story of 95-year-old Holocaust survivor Fira, who is not only Noa Maiman's grandmother but also the adopted grandmother of 4-year-old Firita. Set in modern-day Israel, this moving documentary explores two entwined storylines that converge in Fira's life. Fira's harrowing past is unveiled as she recounts her family's escape from a burning Europe with the help of a kind Polish woman. We witness her resilience and strength in the face of adversity, and how her experiences have shaped her life today. In the present, Fira is dependent on the kindness of Firita's mother, Magna, who serves as her caretaker for the past 12 years. Through her intricate and poignant present, we see the deep bond Fira shares with Firita, who embodies the future and a symbol of hope.

Directed by Orna Ben-Dor Niv.

An affecting 'talking heads' documentary which traces the stories of four Israelis: Yehuda Poliker and Ya'acov Gilad, two rock musicians bound together not only by their music, but also by their common experience as the offspring of survivors of the Nazi extermination camps; and those survivors themselves - Yehuda's father Jacko (from Salonika, taken to Treblinka), and Yaakov's mother Halina (from Warsaw, taken to Auschwitz as a teenager).

A brother and sister arrive alone in the new country of Israel after World War II where they hope to find their lost mother. The complexities of life with colorful characters in the refugee transit camp and nearby kibbutz makes it hard to reconcile their real lives with their deeper dream of still finding the Newland.