The SOLITARY LIFE OF THE STOIC
Leah Laufer, Toronto, Canada. Composite image
“For it has borne you, and at death will consecrate your dust. No other spot in the world can touch your heart as home.”
Whitehall + Brucke write:
The Solitary Life of the Stoic is a collaboration with Judd Brucke shot in 2018. This short documentary project juxtaposes the formidable life story of a Hungarian Jewish woman with imposing architectural structures and expressive visual imagery.
Born in 1924, Leah Laufer shares vivid stories of her childhood and shadowy memories as a young woman coping during the Second World War - recalling memories of imprisonment in a Viennese concentration camp. And at the age of 92, Leah is still reciting anthemic Hungarian prose she learned as a young girl.
Shot in Central Europe and integrated with portraits of Leah in Toronto, this film aligns visual poetry with the wisdom of an old friend, candid confessions of life at her stage and the gratitude of a survivor.
Watch the film here.