Early Reviews for How Saba Kept Singing

We made it home to find out that “How Saba Kept Singing” – the documentary about my grandfather’s story of survival and our return to Poland as a family – made the Top 20 Audience Award List at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival where it had its World Premiere. Out of more than 200 featured documentaries at the festival, these were the favorites!

The film premiere of “How Saba Kept Singing” in Toronto was an incredible experience. A beautiful theater, a great audience, a wonderful reception. People were laughing and crying, and applauding.

And then, to be invited up to perform, to perform a new song I wrote that premieres in the film, to perform a song my grandfather composed while a prisoner in Auschwitz, to have my music as a part of this project, to have my music intertwined forever with my grandfather’s,…
it is the honor of my life.


Some early press and reviews for the documentary “How Saba Kept Singing”:

“HOW SABA KEPT SINGING is a towering achievement that moved me both to tears and laughter and, in a perfect world, Avi Wisnia deserves an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.” Read More in Mr. Will Wong reviews.

“How Saba Kept Singing” seeks to understand how Polish Jewish teenager David Wisnia survived nearly three years in Auschwitz. [It] lends a sense of urgency and poignancy to firsthand accounts of how survivors managed to endure and to move on.” Read More in Variety Magazine.

Oh, and Hillary Clinton tweeted about it. 


We were speaking to so many warm and wonderful people after the premiere of “How Saba Kept Singing” that we missed our chance to get our picture taken as a family on the red carpet. I think this turned out much better.

Thank you Toronto for the warm welcome. This might be the end of our journey in Canada, but this is just the beginning of the journey for this film. Big congratulations to the director Sara Taksler, and all the people at Retro Report, Hidden Light, Burnt Umber and the Hot Docs Festival –  thank you for making this such a memorable and meaningful experience.

For everyone interested in seeing the film who could not attend the premiere in Toronto, there will be a public premiere once the film has a distributor. We really cannot wait for you to see it. Stay tuned!

Read more at www.aviwisnia.com/mypolishwisnia