‘Father’s Secrets’ is an exciting and recommended animated film, which tells the story of the second generation of the Holocaust through the eyes of Michel Kishka – a comic book illustrator and writer who is also a well-known graphic designer and cartoonist, son of Holocaust survivor parents. The film describes the life of the Kishka family in Belgium in the sixties, when Michel and his brother Charles Haim enjoy a happy childhood in the bosom of their Jewish family. Their father, secretive and honest, does not talk about his past. The two brothers sail through their imaginations and imagine him as an adventurer, a pirate or a daring treasure hunter, but the question arises as to what he is really hiding.
This is an intimate, funny and thought-provoking animated film that focuses on a family’s journey after dealing with the trauma of the Holocaust. The film is based on the autobiographical novel by Israeli writer and cartoonist Michel Kishka. At the age of 20, after surviving the death march, Michel’s father returned to his native Belgium, married and gave birth to four children, two daughters and two sons.
This is the story of Michel Kishka’s family, who tried to understand the difficult events their father had to face during his childhood and to grow up and become strong independent people in their own right. The story that is told in the film in a unique and touching tone about survivors and the triumph of the human spirit won the Cannes Film Festival awards for films intended for students.
After being screened in cinemas in France and Belgium, the screening of the film continues in these countries for 8th and 10th grade students as part of the curriculum. It can certainly be hoped that in Israel too, “Father’s Secrets” will be included in the curriculum and will be screened as part of it.
Michel Kischka says that the choice to tell the story through an animated film was not accidental, since it allows to approach the most serious questions with elegance, lightness and precision. The animation also provides an opportunity to reach an audience of children and teenagers who were less exposed to the Holocaust. While adults have heard the words of the survivors – if they have spoken, the younger generation hardly ever hears about her first hand.
“Telling the story of the second generation from my personal point of view seems to me to be an important task 70 years after the liberation of Auschwitz. In my eyes, a graphic novel was the best way to touch the hearts of readers of all ages through humor, poetry and imagination, in order to create a personal and intimate relationship with them,” says Kishka .
“When Vera Belmont offered me to do the project as a graphic novel, I agreed without hesitation; not only because I felt that she was very enthusiastic about the idea, but because, as far as I know, this topic has never been transferred to the cinema screen in this way, while many feature films and television series have been created on the subject of the Holocaust. Today, animated films are very popular in today’s high-tech era, and appeal to all audiences.”
dad’s secrets France-Belgium, 74 minutes, from 20.4.23 in cinemas. Writing by Michelle Kishka, Valerie Zanati, Vera Belmont; Directed by Vera Belmont; production I am Very happy, Left Field Ventures. subtlety; Filmhouse distribution