HARMONY Fest is set to highlight Ballarat’s diverse community from next week, and the Eureka Centre is participating in celebrations.
Displaced by Jewish French Israeli filmmaker and Ballarat resident Sharon Ryba-Kahn is set for screening as part of the festival.
The film explores her story and family history after she reconnects with her estranged father.
“My grandparents are holocaust survivors, and my grandfather specifically was an Auschwitz survivor,” she said.
“There comes a moment when one has the opportunity to ask questions to one’s parents about why they became the people they are, and I felt like no matter how bad our relationship is, and even though he didn’t raise me, I wanted to understand where I came from, my father, and what made him.
“Any person that wants to essentially understand where they come from in terms of historical, cultural backgrounds will identify with the story, especially when it deals with the question of collective trans-generation trauma.
“Take the Jewish context and substitute it to your own history, and I think you can identify with it. That’s the beauty of making cinema and I will love to see how people react to it here.”
Ryba-Kahn was born in Germany and has been in the arts since she was 18.
She started acting in the US and France before taking a detour through literature, cultural studies, and visual anthropology in Berlin, which steered her towards filmmaking and directing.
Read th article by Edwina Williams in the Ballarat Times.