Watching a movie with Hillary Clinton
This was one of the most meaningful moments of my life.
I was invited to participate in a film screening, performance, and post-film talkback at the Chappaqua Performing Art Center in New York. Yes, I finally got to meet the Executive Producers of our film “How Saba Kept Singing” (and if you do get a chance to sit next to Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea and hear them speak – highly recommend!), but it was also about what this moment crystalized for me. This documentary is not just about my grandfather, or my family’s story, or the power of music, or the legacy of the Holocaust, it is bigger than that – it is indeed all these things, and more. This film has the ability to educate and start conversations and change people’s hearts and open people’s eyes, and I think this is just the beginning.
This was also the first time we gathered with every team that has worked on the film to help bring it in to the world: Retro Report, Hidden Light, Burnt Umber, and many other partners and supporters. It takes a lot of people to make a movie! I am honored to be a part of this project. And I will be forever. This is now a part of my life’s work.
Enjoy a few photos of the evening, with deep gratitude to Friends of Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, host Stacey Saiontz, director Sara Taksler, and the event’s photographer Lisa Wahl.
with executive producer Hillary Rodham Clinton, director Sara Taksler,
the Wisnia family, and producing team Retro Report
post-film discussion with executive producers Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton,
and director Sara Taksler
And in case you haven’t seen or shared “How Saba Kept Singing” yet, now you can! Watch it anytime, streaming in full on YouTube.
You can read more about our travels together by going to the blog at MY POLISH WISNIA.
“How Saba Kept Singing” is the story of how my grandfather’s music saved him in Auschwitz and how music binds the two of us together. To be able to share my own music as part of this film & perform it during each screening is incredibly meaningful. Through music, my Saba lives on.
As the credits roll at the end of the film, you will hear a song I wrote, an original composition called “How Long It’s Been” inspired by the reunion between my Saba and Tzippi, the woman who had a hand in saving my grandfather’s life during the Holocaust.
Hear the song from the film: “How Long It’s Been“
Does Hillary Clinton have an Avi Wisnia kazoo?
You bet she does.
