Hot Docs

Oma & Bella is an observational doc set mostly in the spotless Berlin kitchen of two stately octogenarians. Oma is Regina Karolinski, grandmother of the director, from Poland. Bella Katz is from Lithuania. Both are concentration camp survivors, robbed of their families and their youth by the Holocaust. Now they seek pleasure in food, friends and family. “When you are cooking, you remember home,” Bella says with teary eyes. Their adherence to traditional ingredients and techniques keeps them connected with their past and brings up stories from their rich and interesting lives. Oma describes the post-war years as a time to make up for lost joys, while in a candid moment Bella reveals that in the immediate aftermath of the war she may have engaged in murderous revenge.

Screening with Grandmothers.

Meet the filmmaker:

Co-Presented with Co-presented with [Toronto Jewish Film Festival](http://www.tjff.com/).

Media Coverage

• Dork Shelf review
• Torontoist review
• Canculture interview