Letters
Cartas | Mario Bomheker | Argentina, 2018 | Spanish/Yiddish/Hebrew/Polish (English subtitles) | Documentary | 81m | 2K DCP | Distributor/Sales: Mario Bomheker | Trailer
Description: In 1930, at the age of 23, Natalio Bomheker emigrated to Argentina from Poland, leaving behind parents, younger brother, three sisters and his nephews. In the early years, the young watchmaker was too impoverished to help his relatives escape. By the time he acquired the means, the borders were closed. Natalio’s family and Polish upbringing were taboo subjects in the Bomheker household, though Mario’s mother recalls nights when she was woken up by her husband’s sobs. A few years after his death, his son, filmmaker Mario Bomheker found a collection of Yiddish letters and some photographs. In one, a portrait of a family enjoying a day in the country, a figure has been mysteriously cut out. Was it Natalio? Mario sets out to learn about his father’s family.
A local Yiddish expert translates the letters written by Natalio’s relatives, imploring help and at times acerbic in their criticism of him. During a visit to Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem, a research assistant locates a testimonial written by Mario’s aunt about his grandfather. She has passed away, but Mario connects with her offsprings. In Warsaw, a Jewish historical archive finds details on an earlier generation of Bomhekers and that had come to Warsaw from the small town of Baranow. Standing by the banks of Vistula river on his last evening in Warsaw, Mario reflects that the results of his search were meagre. “I only found a few traces of my relatives: a street address, a gravestone inscription, a couple of names in a food rations list.”
Merits: In The Search for Six of Six Million, Daniel Mendelsohn elegiacally weaves personal memoir with the recovered historical memory of his lost relatives. In one sequence of Letters, Mario and his son, who was born in Germany, discuss the family’s exile from Argentina during the dictatorship, following his mother’s release from a political kidnapping. Yet, this brief sequence feels disconnected and leaves one craving to know more. Mirroring Mario’s own disappointment by the results of his search, one learns little about him or his family.
Rating: Suitable for all audiences.