About The Project
The persecution of Jews during the Holocaust left painful memories for many people. Fifty years after the liberation, terrifying nightmares still haunt the survivors. My father-in-law Ben Guyer, a native Pole and retired tailor residing in Florida, is a witness to this harsh period in human history. His image has come to symbolize the Holocaust the world over. It was appeared in such notable places as; a photograph by Margaret Bourke-White at the liberation, a photograph in the Daily Mirror and a newsreel footage reporting the first group of survivors' arrival to New York. This image now looks back at him in the faces of his children.
My name is Etsuko Kizawa. I am an independent filmmaker in New York City. I am currently fundraising for Children of Legacy, a one-hour video documentary that examines the aftereffects of the Holocaust on my Jewish American family.
I married Ben's youngest son Sam Guyer in 1995, and was introduced to his father Ben, a Holocaust survivor. Sam's mother Anna was also a survivor; I was never able to see her in person since she passed away in 1968. From the beginning I was fascinated with Ben's Holocaust stories. Growing up in Japan, I had never encountered a survivor, now learned much about its historical facts. I was frequently exposed to horror stories of Hiroshima while stories of the atrocities of the Holocaust were only briefly mentioned in history books. I started asking questions about Ben's experience to my husband Sam, but to my surprise he was unable to elaborate on claiming that Ben only spoke of the Holocaust when lecturing his children. As I began my research on the Holocaust and issues of the second generation of the survivors, I realized that within the Guyers' unique family dynamics there are also similarities in the issues my family dealt with.
The uniqueness of the documentary lays in its interwoven historical, cultural, and psychological elements. Issues that many families will identify with: detachment from community, culture and religion; dysfunctional family relationship; interracial marriage and integration of races; are all explored. The story peels away the issues to reveal the lingering effect of the Holocaust.
As a Holocaust survivor, Ben's whole life has been devoted to the act of remembering, protecting the Jewish culture and race, and providing his children with opportunities he never had. Growing up in America and bombarded by his father's survivor stories, Sam rebelled against Ben's expectations and detached himself from his own culture and history. Although Ben had made peace with himself and accepted me as his son's wife, he still resents the fact that Sam never finished college and pursued a music career instead of getting a 'regular job.' As I chronicle Sam's journey of an inquiry into the family's past and his relationship with Ben, I will explore the issues in comparisons with my family. Like Ben, my father resented me for choosing a career in the arts.
Encounters with numerous terrifying photographs of the Holocaust was also a reminder for me of the images of Hiroshima I was repeatedly exposed to since my childhood. I still remember announcements asking for the moments of silence every year on August 6th at 8:15 a.m., the exact time the A-bomb was dropped in Hiroshima in 1945. And there was always questions in my mind, 'why could they do this? How can we prevent it from happening in the future?' I would like to raise these questions in many people's conscience through this project.
The significance of lessons yet to be learned from the Holocaust is apparent as violence and racism are repeated around the world today. With the realization that the survivors are not going to be around forever, Ben himself celebrated his 81st birthday this April, it is imperative that we make the most of the time that is left. Through a portrait of both common and unusual family dynamics, Children of Legacy will involve the audience in learning of the lingering effects of the violence and brutality of human kind, only then can we begin to make use of what is handed down to us.
Independent Works
Producer, director, writer, and editor:
NY Geisha (1994)*
For comments or further information on the project, please send e-mail to EKizawa@prodigy.net or write to:
| Etsuko Kizawa | ||
| Illuminatic Productions, Inc. | ||
| 102 Suffolk Street #3B | ||
| New York, NY 10002 |
©1997 Illuminatic Productions