The Marty and Avi Pazner Media Pavilion
Two documentary films:
Leni Sonnenfeld – Portrait of a Photographer
Director, editor and producer: Simona Benyamini
Leni Sonnenfeld (1908-2004) forged her path as a photographer and freelance journalist in early 1930s Berlin, a time when the creative field started to become more open to women. She defined herself as a ”storyteller,” and stated that her perspective on ”the other” through the camera lens stems from a humanistic and intimate place. ”The gaze of the other is my gaze,” she said. ”You are me.”
She and her spouse, photographer Herbert Sonnenfeld, were inspired by several revolutionary artistic movements of their era, notably the Bauhaus. They escaped Berlin in 1939, sought refuge in the United States, and dedicated their lives to photography.
In 2005, the Sonnenfeld’s collection was donated to ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, previously Beit Hatfutsot. This collection includes records of Jewish settlement in Eretz Israel and Jewish communities globally from the 1930s through the 1990s.
The film ”Leni Sonnenfeld – Portrait of a Photographer” reveals the photographic and emotional depth of her work, featuring portraits of immigrants, displaced individuals, and members of Jewish communities both in Israel and globally. Additionally, it introduces segments from rare archival materials for the first time, including a 16mm film shot in Berlin during the 1930s, recently found in the museum’s archive.
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“You Have Courage, Madame”: Julia Pirotte
Director: Asaf Galay
“You Have Courage, Madame” tells the extraordinary life story of photographer and resistance fighter Julia Pirotte (1908-2000), who during World War II, carried a camera in one hand and concealed a pistol in her pocket. Based on testimony she gave to the Fortunoff Archive, the film follows a journey in her footsteps by two contemporary photographers, Avishag Shaar-Yeshuv and Irene Pletka.
Producer: Naama Pyritz, DOP: Avner Shahaf, Editor: Ayelet Ofarim. Special Thanks: Stephen Naron, Moran Sulmirski-Noam, Shula Bahat
