Mara Vishniac Kohn, who shares stories of her famous father Roman Vishniac in the world premiere of the 'Vishniac' documentary. Mara lived in Santa Barbara for more than 40 years, prior to her death in 2018 at the age of 92. Notably, her late husband, Walter Kohn, received the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry while working at UCSB.
Mara Vishniac Kohn, who shares stories of her famous father Roman Vishniac in the world premiere of the 'Vishniac' documentary. Mara lived in Santa Barbara for more than 40 years, prior to her death in 2018 at the age of 92. Notably, her late husband, Walter Kohn, received the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry while working at UCSB. Credit: Contributed photo

Photographer Roman Vishniac captured Jewish life in Europe just prior to the Holocaust, documenting people, places, and a way of life that would soon perish.

He chronicled the rise of Nazism and the aftermath of World War II, and now his story has been captured by local award-winning filmmaker Laura Bialis in her newest documentary, “Vishniac,” which has its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Friday and Saturday.

“Vishniac” chronicles the dramatic story of the iconic photographer and scientist, as told by his daughter, Mara Vishniac Kohn, who lived in Santa Barbara for more than 40 years, prior to her death in 2018 at the age of 92.

The film also includes a cast of three Santa Barbara student actors: Lily Vaknin (Mara Vishniac), Lucas Meisel (Wolf Vishniac), and Bradley Brennan (Roman Vishniac).

Roman Vishniac with his daughter Mara.
Roman Vishniac with his daughter Mara. Credit: Contributed photo

“I was blown away by Vishniac’s images,” said director Laura Bialis, who poured over 23,000 prints and negatives to curate the film. “It’s like peering into a sacred time capsule, a visceral portal into Jewish history to marvel at faces and places that are long gone.”

Bialis said she was first introduced to Vishniac’s work more than 20 years ago, after meeting his daughter Mara at a lecture of Elie Wiesel in Santa Barbara.

Bialis was captivated as Mara shared the story of her childhood in Berlin and her family’s frantic, eleventh-hour escape from Nazi Germany. Mara invited Bialis to her Riviera home where her father’s imagery graced the walls, and the two developed a friendship that would span decades.

“I always knew that ‘Vishniac’ would make a compelling story,” said Bialis. Yet, it took time to convince Mara who was reluctant to share personal details and challenges of her relationship with her father.

“The film has an epic quality to it,” explained Bialis. “It shares the extraordinary, emotional work of Roman Vishniac while also revealing a deep family saga that explores Vishniac’s complicated relationship with his daughter, as seen through her eyes.”

A photo Roman Vishniac took of his daughter Mara standing in front of an election poster for Hitler in 1932.
A photo Roman Vishniac took of his daughter Mara standing in front of an election poster for Hitler in 1932. Credit: Contributed photo

There are poignant universal themes that wide audiences can relate to, including family dynamics, the immigrant experience, preserving legacies and issues of identity which are integral to each of Bialis’ films.

While Roman Vishniac may be best known for his iconic images of Eastern European Jewish life, the film follows Vishniac from his early years in tsarist Russia to his emergence as a modernist photographer in Weimar Berlin to his journeys across Eastern Europe before and after the war. The documentary also examines his pioneering scientific work in the field of photomicroscopy.

For local filmmaker Bialis, the premiere at this year’s film festival represents a homecoming of sorts.

“My career actually began with the Santa Barbara International Film Festival,” she said. Bialis was invited to present her first short documentary, “Attitude,” in 1997.

The film followed a day-in-the-life of then-13-year-old athlete, actor, and musician Tyler Dumm, who was blind and also a partial amputee. Bialis met Dumm while working as a summer intern at Rod Lathim’s Access Theater in Santa Barbara – a formative experience in her life.

It was at this same 1997 Film Festival that Bialis bumped into Judy Meisel, a local Holocaust survivor, activist and educator (Meisel passed away in 2020). Bialis’s filmmaker partners had never met a Holocaust survivor before and after meeting Judy they knew she would be the subject of their next documentary.

“Tak for Alt” was completed two years later and went on to receive critical acclaim and become part of the educational curriculum for hundreds of thousands of high school students. Before her death in 2020, Meisel traveled the world to share this film and her story.

Bialis attended San Marcos High School before studying history at Stanford University and earning her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern California. Her other features include “Refusenik,” “View from the Bridge – Stories from Kosovo,” and “Rock in the Red Zone.”

Behind the scenes with director Laura Bialis, on set in Germany, for the filming of 'Vishniac.'
Behind the scenes with director Laura Bialis, on set in Lublin, Poland, for the filming of ‘Vishniac.’ Credit: Contributed photo

Bialis is honored to premiere her newest work in her hometown and hopes that by sharing Vishniac’s images the film exposes new audiences to a lost world.

“There is a magic to Vishniac’s work,” said Bialis. “There is a moment of profound connection between photographer and subject that somehow captures their human essence, and this is what I hope to bring to the screen – the beauty, majesty and wonder of a world Vishniac spent his life photographing.”

The film will be shown at the Metro 4 Theater on Friday, Feb. 17 at 2:40 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 18 at 8:40 p.m. Both showings feature a Q&A with director Laura Bialis. For ticket information, visit www.sbiff.org.

Ann Pieramici is a Noozhawk contributing writer. She can be reached at news@noozhawk.com.