Oma

Directed by Bill Kirstein

 
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Coming Soon

A rich discovery in a dusty attic raises forgotten questions for a centenarian facing the loss of her short-term memory. The find contained more than fifty reels of film shot by Carmen and her deceased husband William. 

With startling parallels to our troubled contemporary landscape, the film reels chronicle landmark fragments of history at the limit of living memory: World War II, life under Nazi occupation and immigration to the USA. Interwoven with the present day, we build an intimate portrait of historic events, domestic family life, and love, across a near 40-year period. 

The physicalization of memory in the form of her 8mm home movies inspires Carmen to divulge unheard stories of her life in the Dutch resistance and tumultuous times past.  With her trusty cat, ever watchful, Carmen explores her perspective on a life of 100 years and finds peace in the present.

 

Awards & Screenings

AUDIENCE AWARD - 60th Rochester International Film Festival

WINNER: Best Short Film, Cinefalma Lisbon, 2020

OFFICIAL SELECTION - 42nd Atlanta Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION - 22nd Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION - 13th Roving Eye Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION - 14th L'Europe autour de l'Europe, Paris, France

OFFICIAL SELECTION - 11th Leiden International, Leiden, The Netherlands


Accolades

“Capturing the parallels between the World War II era and today”
- Mary Catherine Crowley, MPN Now

“Filaments of connection floating in projector light”
- Atlanta Film Festival

“The experience of exile is as old as the concept of home. Where will you go and who do you become at the end of the journey?”
- Leiden International Film Festival

Credits

15min / Color & B&W / 16mm & 8mm / USA / 2018
Produced by Anne Hollowday
Cinematography by Bill Kirstein
Edited by Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli
Sound by Kenny Kusiak
Directed by Bill Kirstein

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