Golda Maria is a minimalistic presentation of the testimony of a survivor from France. It constitutes an intergenerational film about the transmission of personal history, since the woman after whom the film was named first told her story to her grandson, film producer Patrick Sobleman, in the 1990s. Over twenty years after her passing, Sobelman and his son Hugo skillfully and thoughtfully reworked her testimony so that it would resonate with current and future audiences. Golda Maria’s story gradually unfolds as her willingness to speak increases; she recounts her experiences during the Holocaust as a married woman of forty and the mother of two children. Forced to flee Paris in 1933, she reached the unoccupied southern "Free Zone" during the war, but was separated from her family. Just before the Normandy landing in 1944, Golda Maria was deported with her son, and her tribulations continued, with tragic consequences.
According to the Prize Jury, "Golda Maria’s genuine voice, and her natural reticence imbues her testimony with emotional force. The film Golda Maria showcases the survivor’s story, while extending the boundaries of the home movie, the memoir and the video diary, ensuring that voices such as Golda Maria’s will not only be preserved, but also heard by future generations."
On the eve of his retirement as Chairman of Yad Vashem, the jury stressed that an important component of Shalev’s legacy was to ensure that the Jewish experience – the story of individuals, family and community, and the voices of survivors – would be placed at the heart of discussion about the Holocaust.
Upon receiving the award, the first in an online festival competition, the directors sent a video message: “We are so honored to receive the Avner Shalev Award," they said. "Unfortunately this year we can’t be together with you, but, yes, we hope to meet, screen and share the film, next year in Jerusalem.”
Michaela and León Constantiner: Perpetuating the Memory of the Shoah
León Constantiner continues a fundamental family tradition of philanthropy. His grandfather, Elías Sourasky (b. 1899, Bialystok, Russia), a successful financier, businessman and an avid Zionist, was key to the establishment of the State of Israel by swaying the vote of Mexico during the resolution recognizing its formation at the United Nations. Eli, as everyone knew him, provided significant support to Israel during many of its salient wars, alongside a number of prominent academic and cultural institutions across Israel.
Joan and her husband Jaime Constantiner, León’s parents, were also benefactors of Tel Aviv University, as well as the Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot and many other Israeli cultural, medical and Holocaust-related educational initiatives.
León Constantiner and his wife Michaela have been longtime supporters of foundations and programs in Israel. They created the Constantiner Photography Award for an Israeli Photographer at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and established the Joan-Sourasky Constantiner Jewish & Holocaust Cinema Foundation at the Jerusalem Cinematheque.
Since 2005, León and Michaela have endowed the Avner Shalev Award for Artistic Achievement in a Holocaust-Related Film presented together with the Lia Award for Artistic Achievement in a Film on Jewish Heritage, in honor of Lia Van Leer, the founder of the Jerusalem Cinematheque. The two honors comprised the “Jewish Experience” category at the Jerusalem International Film Festival. The directors of each of the 30 winning films so far have received a monetary award and, even more significantly, most of the films garnered global recognition by virtue of distribution to general as well as educational (non-commercial) audiences.
The Sourasky-Constantiner family has always expressed that they feel honored and grateful not only to work closely with Avner Shalev but to also call him a dear friend. Yad Vashem salutes León and Michaela Constantiner for their commitment to perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust through their generous support of filmmakers, as well as the Yad Vashem Visual Center.
This article originally appeared in the "Yad Vashem Jerusalem Magazine," volume 94.
