Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant, Serena Dykman’s grandmother, in Nana (Dyamant Pictures, 2016). Vimeo
“Never again,” the phrase associated with the Holocaust, is a reminder of the value of memory. The Holocaust memory is increasingly important in society today as survivors pass away and intolerance continues to exist. Many dedicated their postwar lives to preserving the Holocaust memory by sharing their stories with younger generations. One such individual was Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant, an Auschwitz survivor and activist for tolerance. Maryla’s greatest wish was to prevent the Holocaust from ever being forgotten or repeated. Her granddaughter, Serena Dykman, carries on her grandmother’s legacy with her latest film Nana, a transgenerational documentary that tells her grandmother’s Auschwitz survival story and shares her stance against intolerance, racism, and antisemitism (Nana: A Film).
Serena Dykman’s documentary is not just a depiction of the life and work of an extraordinary woman, Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant; it is also a strong call to action. Maryla’s retelling of her experiences on screen is so “stunning in their transparency and absolutely heartbreaking to watch” (Propes) that viewers have become inspired and motivated to continue her fight against intolerance (Nana: A Film). As Serena traces her own journey of discovering her grandmother’s life story in Nana, she overcomes the challenges of making her call to action relevant to younger generations and continuing her grandmother’s work in the wake of political acts of violence such as the 2014 attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels and the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris (“Impact in Profile”). Nana won several well-deserved festival awards including the Madelyn’s Choice Award at the Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival, the Best of Show Award at Chagrin Docs Without Borders Film Festival, and the Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker at the Harlem International Film Festival, among many others. Its theatrical premiere occurred recently on April 13 in New York (Nana: A Film).
Because of my interest in social justice documentaries, I wanted to interview Serena Dykman about the making of Nana. After watching the film, I recently interviewed Serena via email. Her responses to the following questions continue to highlight the importance of the film and its message of tolerance.
Ashley Spillane: Tell us about your film, Nana.
Serena Dykman: I retrace my grandmother’s Auschwitz survival story, and investigate how her lifelong fight against intolerance can continue to be taught to the new generations, against the backdrop of current events.
Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant, born in Poland, survived Ravensbruck, Malchow, and Auschwitz, where she was the forced translator of the “Angel of Death,” Dr. Mengele. She dedicated her postwar life to publicly speaking of her survival to the young generations, so that it would never be forgotten or repeated. Alice Michalowski and I, her daughter and granddaughter, explore how Maryla’s fight against intolerance can continue today, in a world where survivors are disappearing, and intolerance, racism and antisemitism are on the rise.
AS: As the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor and social justice activist, what does tolerance mean to you?
SD: I think that the wealth of society lies in our differences, and we have a lot to learn from one another. That being said, it is (sadly) hard to imagine a world where everyone gets along. Tolerance to me means that, even if one cannot understand and/or does not agree with one’s religion, culture, etc., they can at least tolerate it; agree to disagree in a way.
AS: In what ways did the personal content of the film impact the way in which you told Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant’s, your grandmother’s, story?
SD: It was quite a challenge to balance the personal aspect of the film, with the universal and historical context. What my team and I realized early on is that my grandmother’s work had been so impactful because it was a personal story; it didn’t rely on statistics, numbers and graphs. It is the story of a human being, a–then–young girl who got everything taken away from her because she was who she was. We can’t expect people to relate to numbers and facts, because those are simply not relatable and tangible. Thus, we decided to put the personal aspect of Maryla’s story forward, and weaved it in with my mother’s and my storyline dealing with the weight of this heritage. That way, the hope is that audiences of all ages can relate to at least one of us. It is always interesting for me to talk to audiences after screenings; I have people of all generations coming up to me, highlighting very different aspects of the film and storyline, relating to their own generation and background.
AS: You have good memories of spending time with your grandmother as a child, but you also remember hearing words such as Auschwitz, Mengele, and gas chambers–not knowing what they meant but realizing that they were bad. As you worked on the film, what was it like to watch one hundred hours of archival footage of your grandmother speaking about a part of her life that, as a child, you didn’t understand or want to understand?
SD: It is very hard to describe. At first, it was an emotional shock as I was spending twelve hours a day, seeing my Nana on screen, a grandmother I had lost so young. But the stories she was telling, the way she was telling them, the level of details, hearing about family members my mother and I would never get to know . . . . My editor, Corentin Soibinet, my cowriter David Breger and I barely spoke to each other for weeks in that editing room, watching and hearing all that footage. To me, the world around me stopped making sense. How could people live normal lives, worry about the new iPhone and the stress of finals when this had happened? It is like I suddenly understood what humanity was capable of, and I would never see the world the same way. But after a few painful weeks, I realized that I couldn’t be down and let this heavy heritage crush me. My grandmother had survived, and had come out of it a beautiful, smart, funny, and witty woman, full of life, and still loving life. Her attitude towards life reminded me how much it was worth living, and enjoy every moment of it.
AS: In the film, you mentioned that you had been traveling with your grandmother’s memoir for about two years, but never had the courage to open it until the day after the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Shortly after you read the memoir, you started working on Nana. Tell us about why you chose to read the memoir after the attacks, and how our responses to such events can incite change.
SD: I can’t really explain why I finally decided to read my grandmother’s book, but I think the combination of being in Brussels on the day of the terrorist attack at the Jewish Museum, and being in Paris on the day of the Charlie Hebdo attacks made me more aware and awake to the realities of the world I was living in. After reading the book, I got angry; angry because I suddenly had a million questions to ask Nana that I would never be able to ask, but even angrier because she, like most survivors, was not here to do their crucial work anymore. In the aftermath of these attacks, fingers were being pointed in all directions, and intolerance was rising dramatically, especially in the age of social media. Nana told her story countless times so that the world would never forget what happened, but also would be reminded of what can happen in a world without tolerance. As her granddaughter, and a filmmaker, I felt it was my duty to keep her legacy alive, in whatever way I could. [Editor’s note: Serena Dykman wrote the following text in the aftermath of the attacks on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh: https://www.facebook.com/NanaADocumentary/posts/2160767434161735.]
AS: In her interviews, Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant stressed the importance of informing young people and helping them learn the truth about the Holocaust in order to prevent it from ever happening again. Describe your experiences screening Nana to young audiences. Do you think they grasped the film’s message of fighting against intolerance?
SD: My main goal with Nana since day one has been to bring it to the youth. Maryla was always very much liked by students, somehow they related to her, and I started making the film when I was twenty-two, so my hope is that these two elements would make young people relate and understand the film and its message. I got the chance to screen Nana to middle school, high school and university students–from schools in the South of France with Amnesty International, to about two thousand students in Pennsylvania with Classrooms Without Borders, and many others. The reactions after each of these unique screenings touch me deeply. The questions and reflections that the students have are often even more profound than the ones I get with adult audiences–they see the film as a call to action, they ask what they can do to make a difference, they want to read Nana’s book, they want to know more, they want to act, they become the new bearers of this story . . . . One of my most memorable experiences was a screening with about two hundred at-risk high school students in Colorado Springs, organized by the wonderful Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival. The students highlighted how inspiring Nana was to them. I think they saw her as proof that one could live through the worst, and come out of it as a better person, with a passion for life, and willpower to make a difference. For these students who were in challenging situations themselves, they seemed to see Nana as proof that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
AS: A recent New York Times article discussed a Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany survey, which revealed that young people in the United States–Millennials in particular–“lack basic knowledge” about the Holocaust. Does it feel like your film is coming out at the exact right moment?
SD: It does. I was incredibly shocked to read this article, which came out the day before our theatrical release. I am proud to say that most of the Nana team was Millennials. I believe that only eight states require Holocaust education. This is, to me, one of the main issues. The second thing is that even in schools where the Holocaust is taught, educators or school systems do not necessarily explain the why. Learning about one of the most horrific times in history is never enjoyable. If they are not told why they are learning about it, it is very hard to get them interested in the subject. The Holocaust is not something that solely belongs to the Jewish community, indeed it belongs to humanity. It asks some of the biggest questions about society. Learning about the Holocaust and genocide education in general can help prevent intolerance, racism, anti-Semitism . . . . Once students understand that the Holocaust does not belong solely in the past, and that knowing about it can actually help them shape a better future, on a personal and global scale, they get very interested and want to participate.
AS: Talk a little about how the making of Nana was a learning experience. How has that experience impacted your sense of identity, and what did you learn about yourself as a filmmaker?
SD: I think I might be able to answer that question better in fifty years. 🙂 I definitely learned a lot as an independent filmmaker–I started making Nana in my last semester of undergrad at NYU, and never expected it to go this far. It was also my first feature and first documentary (I used to make narrative comedies before . . .). When I was younger, I didn’t think I could really make an impact, make things move. Nana taught me that I could. Everything, however small, can help. We all have some kind of power to shape the future. Making Nana also taught me to ignore people who discourage you, or say no, because of your age, gender, etc. Prove them wrong!
Alice Michalowski and her daughter, Serena Dykman, in Nana (Dyamant Pictures, 2016). Vimeo
AS: How did the film evolve throughout the creative process? How does the completed documentary compare to your original vision for the film?
SD: In the shooting stages, Nana seemed to be a film about a woman seen through the eyes of all those she had impacted, in addition to her daughter and granddaughter. This is because I did not know I was going to get one hundred hours of archival footage of her . . . and I am so glad I did ! Instead of a film about Maryla, it became Maryla’s film, peppered with interventions from her friends, colleagues, and my mom and me. I don’t think Nana would have been nearly as impactful without Nana.
AS: Finally, what’s next for you?
SD: Nana got a DVD and iTunes release on September 18, so that’s very exciting! I’ve been touring the world with the film for about two years, and I’m looking forward to being able to bring it to a wider audience thanks to this release and our wonderful distributors at First Run Features!
After spending my early twenties working on the Holocaust, I figured I should make a comedy next . . . . 🙂 I am starting a comedic series here in New York.
Works Cited
“Impact in Profile: Serena Dykman.” USC Shoah Foundation, 2018. <https://sfi.usc.edu/profiles/serena-dykman>. Web. 6 May 2018.
Nana: A Film by Her Granddaughter Serena Dykman. Dyamant Pictures, 2016. <www.nanafilm.com>. Web. 6 May 2018.
Propes, Richard. “‘Nana’ Opens April 13th in New York.” The Independent Critic, 2018. <http://www.theindependentcritic.com/nana>. Web. 6 May 2018.
Author Biography
Ashley R. Spillane is an Honors student at the University of North Carolina Wilmington majoring in film and minoring in digital arts. When she is not watching, making, or writing about films, she enjoys reading, painting, and experimenting with graphic design.
