Exclusive Interview with Roberta Grossman Dir: "Blessed is the Match"
by: Luis Pedron of Fanclubx.com
www.blessedisthematch.com
Luis Pedron: Hannah Senesh has been likened to a "modern day Joan of Arc." How does this relate to the women then and women who are allowed to serve in the military now?
Roberta Grossman: I think the reference to Joan of Arc is because both Hannah and Joan of Arc were very young women who were touched with a passion for a cause and the belief that they themselves were called to serve the cause. I filmed one day at an Israeli parachutist base where young women were being trained. It was amazing to see so many young women in uniform, practicing packing parachutes, etc. Hannah Senesh is still held up as a model of devotion and bravery to these young women in the Israeli military today. But I also interviewed a high up male officer in the Israeli Defense Force – he told me that he remains inspired by Hannah's sacrifice. No one wants to fight, not then, not now. No young person wants to die. Certainly not Hannah. But the times demanded a response and she responded.
Luis Pedron: How small or massive was the picture/diary archive of Hannah Senesh and how helpful were these materials to your filming this documentary?
Roberta Grossman: I had read Hannah's diary in junior high and had been fascinated by her all my life. I had seen the same 10 pictures of Hannah over and over again. When I was given permission to make Blessed Is the Match by the Senesh family, they took me to a small room in what had been Catherine Senesh's apartment and there were floor to ceiling books, documents, letters and shoe boxes. In the shoe boxes were 1300 photographs of Hannah and her family, more than half of them taken by Hannah herself. So I discovered that she had recorded her life in pictures as well as in words. This was amazing. And, to make it even better, she was an excellent photographer. It really doesn't get much better than that for a documentary filmmaker!
Luis Pedron: In the background are the relationships that Hannah had with her Mother and her involvement in the Kibbutz Movement of her time. Please paint this picture for us without giving away too much of the storyline.
Roberta Grossman: Hannah's involvement with the kibbutz movement was an outgrowth of her passionate idealism. As conditions for Jews in Europe worsened in the 1930's Hannah became convinced that the only solution for the Jewish people was to have a safe-haven in Palestine. She did not simply believe in this idea, but wanted to devote her life to it. Much to her mother's chagrin, Hannah decided to emigrate to Palestine. Even worse, from Catherine's point of view, was that Hannah proclaimed there were already "far too many intellectuals in Palestine. The great need is for workers to help build the land." So Hannah studied at a girl's agricultural school in Palestine and then joined a young kibbutz on the beach near Caesarea. When Hannah arrived at the kibbutz, there was nothing there except sand a few tents. This was a great test to her idealism! Hannah enjoyed teasing her mother in letters about mucking out cow sheds, etc. When she knew her mother wished she had decided, at least, to go to the university in Jerusalem.
About Hannah's relationship about her mother, let me just add this – the film is not about a heroine, or about the Holocaust, Blessed Is the Match is a mother-daughter love story set against the backdrop of the Holocaust.
Luis Pedron: What did you learn from creating this poetic and historical film?
Roberta Grossman: Humility.
Luis Pedron: How did you get to interview Israeli President Shimon Peres for this film?
Roberta Grossman: One of my advisors in Israel, Professor Tamar Ketko, asked him and he said yes.
Luis Pedron: What are your hopes and dreams for the Jewish youth of the future and what should they learn from this film?
Roberta Grossman: My hopes and dreams for all youth is for peace. I do hope that my film will introduce new generations of Jewish youth to Hannah's story. I think Hannah embodies the watchwords of Jewish World Watch, a Los Angeles-based organization that fights against modern day genocides. Their motto is "don't stand idly by."
Luis Pedron: What are your advice to future filmmakers in how to be a true storyteller?
Roberta Grossman: Tell stories that you are passionate about – about things that make you mad – that way you will have the juice to get over all the hurdles and years it takes to make a film.
Luis Pedron: Thank you so much for granting me this interview. Congratulations for your theatrical release!
www.blessedisthematch.com
ROBERTA GROSSMAN, DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
An award-winning filmmaker with a passion for history and social justice, Roberta Grossman has written and produced more than forty hours of documentary television. She was the series producer and co-writer of 500 Nations, the eight-hour CBS mini-series on Native Americans hosted by Kevin Costner. Grossman's feature documentary, Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action, premiered in February 2005, and has screened and won awards at more than forty festivals worldwide. Other writing and producing credits include In the Footsteps of Jesus, a four-hour special for the History Channel; Hollywood and Power: Women on Top, a special for AMC; The Rich in America: 150 Years of Town and Country Magazine for A&E, The History of Christianity: the First Thousand Years, a four-hour special on A&E, Medal of Honor, a six-part television series produced for U.S. News and World Report, and Heroines of the Hebrew Bible and Judas for the A&E series Mysteries of the Bible.
