I Am Judit: East Hampton Holocaust Survivor’s Story Hits Big Screen

I Am Judit, a moving documentary about the life of 91-year-old Holocaust survivor Judy Sleed, who currently lives in East Hampton, will be screened at LTV Studios in Wainscott at 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 11.

Sleed discusses her childhood throughout the documentary, which recently won best feature film at the Toronto Documentary Feature & Short Film Festival. She reveals aspects of her life to the audience that she had never even revealed before — even to her own children.

“Holocaust survivors have an incredible strength and unbreakable spirit,” said Christiane Arbesu, the producer of the film. “I’ve never seen that among all the people I interviewed.”

After hearing Judy’s story, Arbesu felt she needed to bring it to the big screen because she realized not enough people took the topic surrounding her story seriously enough.

“At the beginning of the film, I start off with some statistics about how 2022 saw the highest instance of hate crimes against Jews since World War II,” she said. “I did some research and found that high schoolers and people under 40 didn’t know what the Holocaust was. I found that horrific, and felt if I shared one survivor’s story, it might make people realize that this did in fact happen.”

Arbesu was approached with the idea by Michael Clark of LTV East Hampton, the local public access cable channel, on which Sleed currently hosts a talk show, The Play Is the Thing, where she tells her own stories, and shares other people’s stories as well.

The film gives viewers who may not be familiar with Sleed or her show, an opportunity to learn about her life. As Arbesu explained, those who are unfamiliar with the Holocaust will be able to learn more about its significance and its impact on people. Arbesu accomplishes this by giving Sleed the opportunity to talk in the present, reflecting on what happened in her past.

“The Holocaust happened, and it should not be repeated again,” she said. “I want people to see that among all odds, people can still survive. You can still have a life that is filled with laughter and song.”

Despite her years of experience in filmmaking, this is only the second documentary she produced. Her hope is that focusing on Sleed will continue to inspire others.

“I tell individual stories because each person has an award-winning story about them,” said Arbesu. “I want to show that each story matters and they should be recorded for future generations. This documentary about Judy is my tribute to all those who perished.”

LTV Studios is located at 75 Industrial Road in Wainscott. The screening is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 11. Addmission is free.