As an elderly Jewish lady, Ruth, surveys an act of modern day anti-Semitism she goes back in her mind to her own childhood in Germany and the events that prompted her parents to send her on the kindertransport to England to escape Nazi Germany.

A woman like Ruth, who escaped Germany, carrying the family menorah with her, but lost her parents to the death camps, the presence of the past is almost tangible. Emotions that she was able to articulate in her musical career. For, as she explains to her great granddaughter, Abigail, as she places the menorah on the windowsill, the menorah is lit not just to proclaim their faith, but to stand against the darkness of the world’s evil, and to let those we love know they are never forgotten.

Director Vision

I chose to direct this film because I wanted to raise awareness of modern day anti-semitism by drawing on the parallels of the past and present. The idea was inspired by a story of an 80 year old Holocaust survivor, who was murdered by her neighbour for being Jewish.

That idea of someone surviving something so unimaginable, only to die for the same reasons all those years later really struck a chord with me. However, in this story I wanted to add in an element of hope. That by the end, Ruth having survived the holocaust but lost her parents, knows there can be no accommodation made towards hate and proudly displays her menorah on the windowsill

Having watched films like The pianist, Son of Saul, Schindler’s List, Defiance and many more films that depict the holocaust and the anti-Semitic crimes that led to the deaths of so many Jewish people. I always felt a strong connection not only in being Jewish myself, but a familiar feeling of hatred that existed in the past, very much existing today.

I wanted to tell the story through a very specific lens, focussing on this one family through different generations and having the Menorah be a surviving symbol of the Jewish hope and identity. I hope that by having the story told in black and white visuals, the audience will have a feeling that as much as time has moved on, some things still remain the same but how we choose to deal with them and ensuring they never happen again, I hope will be the take away from the film.