By Eva Trieger
LA JOLLA, California — When words are not only unnecessary but may get in the way of delivering a beautiful, haunting, dark message, they are left out. When a story is so universal that we need not attach a face to the experiences, the camera omits the visage. Such is the case with Shoes, a short film that will be featured at the Joyce Forum, February 10th’s contribution to the San Diego Jewish Film Festival. How fortunate we all are!
Director, producer and creator of this “cinematographical memorial,” Costa Fam will address the audience and share his own fascinating ancestry. Fam, born to a Vietnamese father and a Jewish mother lost many relatives in the Holocaust. In an interview, the artist shared with me that he knew very few of his maternal relations because they perished at the hands of Nazis. Fam recalls that his grandmother resisted talk of the war.
In collecting interviews for Shoes, Costa Fam realized he was, in fact, going to create a trilogy. This is but the first film in the project entitled “Witnesses.” When asked why he opted to shoot only from the waist down, Fam confirmed that it made the experience more universal. Without singling out any one person, the horrific events could have happened to everyone, any group, not only Jews.
The shooting was done in five countries, expanding the scope of the project and underscoring the far ranging effects of World War II to all of Europe. Each scene is accompanied by original classical music written by Fam’s nephew, Egor Romanenko. A graduate of Moscow Conservatory, he created a soundtrack that absolutely tells the story. The viewer experiences the entire range of emotions from intrigue to elation, anxiety to horror, and eventually resignation and defeat. The music speaks for the shoes, jackboots, slippers and eventually bare feet.
It is nearly inconceivable that in a mere eighteen minutes, an entire period of history and the near obliteration of a people is observed. This artistry is breathtaking, profound and memorable. Fam shared with me that the film was very well received in Nuremburg, a city that first enforced racial laws against Jews, and that the city has even developed a school curriculum based on this film to promote healing and re-education.
Four hundred crew members worked to pull off this film that is focused on one pair of red shoes that travel on a young woman’s feet from a small village to Auschwitz. We are conjoined with young lovers for their courtship, wedding and honeymoon before the couple is brutalized by Nazis and carted away from their bucolic life.
Costa and his wife Irina have five children. He has taken them to visit this death camp annually so they will understand what befell the Jews, and what inhumanity is possible in this world. He wants to relay his concern for future generations by making sure they know what has preceded them. To this end, Fam has made a point of visiting several of the camps and collecting many personal stories.
The airing at the Joyce Forum on Monday night will be accompanied by a live symphony orchestra. While it is wholly unexpected that anyone will be tapping his toes to the beat, you do not want to miss out on Shoes. Tickets available at the Lawrence Family JCC box office.
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Eva Trieger is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted at eva.trieger@sdjewishworld.com