Film captures reality of Holocaust

Reviewed by Rose Dinelli

Brilliant, powerful, and breaking the mold of the ordinary into the extraordinary; this film artist will silence your mind and make you think.

An award-winning documentary, brilliantly written by Deborah Lefkowitz, will jerk you right into a different dimension of reality of the legacy of the Holocaust. The film will also leave you breathless and able to feel both sides of a painful reality.

Lefkowitz uses film, photography, and oral history combined with metaphors to bring her art to a new level. In her film, “Intervals of Silence” she looks closely at the life of present day Jews in Germany.

What makes this film so extraordinary is that Lefkowitz uses her mind and soul and what comes out is beauty. Reality can be ugly, yet beautiful at the same time. She takes the ugliness of the Holocaust and brings about the cold truth with different speeds of film, different colors hitting the images in the film, and voices from the documentary that shred their soul to pieces of the experiences.

One might say, “Who wants to feel pain?” But it is a good pain, because it is a release of sadness and that is what Lefkowitz wants you to experience. To have your own experience and feel the reality of someone else’s experience in Germany, not to live in the black and white world of stereotypical deadness.

“I allow an image to come out of a mysterious space and I watch it come to life,” said Lefkowitz. I want the meaning to emerge from my soul, and as I do so, I know that each meaning will be different for each person.”

I sat there motionless as I was viewing “Intervals of Silence” I was thrown completely out of the unconscious world and into the conscious, because I could feel the experiences of the Holocaust in metaphors of memory of the voices from both sides, not just one side.

The amazing thing about this artist is not only does she create soul awakening film experiences, but she also works in art installation. This may seem like a new word to you, and you’re probably thinking, “What in the world is art installation art,” but if you view her installation artwork you will never forget it.

Lefkowitz has been creating large-scale photographic pieces from her film and combining them with sound. This is so awesome, because you can actually feel as if you are there in her space. The space that she creates is so powerful with the combination of the sound. The sound of voices, the vision of light the hits the work of film just so on the leg of person, or in the moonlight of night.

“She gives me such inner inspiration,” said one her fans that attends UC Davis as a third year art student.

The inner most part of you is where Lefkowitz will hit you, she will wake you up from your deadened state of mind and make you feel the beauty in the world. She will take you on a trip to reality with pictures and sound, yet you will not be scared, you will only feel peace, because there is so much peace in reality.

If you have the chance, don’t miss Lefkowitz’s current art installation at the Memorial Union Art Gallery at UC Davis, “Passages of a Fading Light” showing until Feb 23, Brilliant, Powerful, and Breaking the mold of the Ordinary into the Extraordinary; This Film Artist will Silence your Mind and Make you Think.

An award-winning documentary, brilliantly written by Deborah Lefkowitz, will jerk you right into a different dimension of reality of the legacy of the Holocaust. The film will also leave you breathless and able to both sides of a painful reality.

Lefkowitz uses film, photography, and oral history combined with metaphors to bring her art to a new level. In her film, “Intervals of Silence” she looks closely at the life of present day Jews in Germany.

What makes this film so extraordinary is that Lefkowitz uses her mind and soul and what comes out is beauty. Reality can be ugly, yet beautiful at the same time. She takes the ugliness of the Holocaust and brings about the cold truth with different speeds of film, different colors hitting the images in the film, and voices from the documentary that shred their soul to pieces of the experiences.

One might say, “Who wants to feel pain?” But it is a good pain, because it is a release of sadness and that is what Lefkowitz wants you to experience. To have your own experience and feel the reality of someone else’s experience in Germany, not to live in the black and white world of stereotypical deadness.

“I allow an image to come out of a mysterious space and I watch it come to life,” said Lefkowitz. I want the meaning to emerge from my soul, and as I do so, I know that each meaning will be different for each person.”

I sat there motionless as I was viewing “Intervals of Silence” I was thrown completely out of the unconscious world and into the conscious, because I could feel the experiences of the Holocaust in metaphors of memory of the voices from both sides, not just one side.

The amazing thing about this artist is not only does she create soul awakening film experiences, but she also works in art installation. This may seem like a new word to you, and you’re probably thinking, “What in the world is art installation art,” but if you view her installation artwork you will never forget it.

Lefkowitz has been creating large-scale photographic pieces from her film and combining them with sound. This is so awesome, because you can actually feel as if you are there in her space. The space that she creates is so powerful with the combination of the sound. The sound of voices, the vision of light the hits the work of film just so on the leg of person, or in the moonlight of night.

“She gives me such inner inspiration,” said one her fans that attends UC Davis as a third year art student.

The inner most part of you is where Lefkowitz will hit you, she will wake you up from your deadened state of mind and make you feel the beauty in the world. She will take you on a trip to reality with pictures and sound, yet you will not be scared, you will only feel peace, because there is so much peace in reality.

If you have the chance, don’t miss Lefkowitz’s current art installation at the Memorial Union Art Gallery at UC Davis, “Passages of a Fading ,”: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday thru Friiday, “Passages of a Fading Light” is a must see.