Best documentary at over fifty international film festivals
This film, Monument to Love, features a journey of Jacky Comforty with his mother, Ika Comforty Ovadia, for over 25 years to research, document, and uncover the narrative of the Jewish people during the Holocaust in Bulgaria.
As the journey progressed, Ika’s personal story unfolded. She shares memories and reads passages from her diary which revealed her observations, thoughts and feelings, as a young woman, facing a broken world, plunging into war. Kind acts of friendship she experienced contrast the cruel times and the dangers she and others escaped. Ika’s story is an anti-war manifesto, confronting totalitarianism and supremacy, and erecting a Monument to Love.
Ika’s statement:
“Love is the greatest force in the world. It is stronger than religion. It is stronger than anything. If you love, you do. If you do not love, nothing will happen. With love, children are raised, with love, a bond is formed between two people. With love, we become parents to children. With love, we become teachers and students. With love, children are raised, with love. When you love something, you work all your life and give. You do not give? There is no life, no beauty. Without love, nothing happens. Period.”
Director’s Statement
Some thirty-five years ago, I became interested in Bulgarian Jews, and the Holocaust. At that time, I was a young scriptwriter and director of comedy. I was close with my parents who were Bulgarian Jewish immigrants in Israel and supported my artistic aspirations. They once told me that, “There is one story you must tell, which is how we were saved during the Holocaust.” I had never heard the story before and at the time recorded this conversation on an audio-cassette tape.
This conversation with my parents began the process of learning, researching, interviewing and creating multiple documentation projects about the Holocaust and its effect all over Europe, and particularly in Bulgaria. Over the years, I conducted about 250 oral histories which I used to produce four full-length documentaries and a dozen short movies. “Monument to Love ” is a result of 35 years of collection and documentation. The richness of the story and the depth of the work are clearly visible in the film.
When I began to explore our heritage, the common notion was that there was no Holocaust in Bulgaria and that our people were saved. I interviewed hundreds of people, documented places and events, and collected archival films and photographs. The story became more complex, and sometimes darker. I set out to document how they had been saved. Yet, people told stories of resilience, resistance and survival and of friendships and kindness that were stronger than fascism, propaganda and hatred.
From the beginning, my mom was very supportive and active. She collected photos and took notes for me, researched bibliography and documents, and provided a personal context. She joined me on two trips to Bulgaria in 1990 and in 1999. At first, I wanted to hear mostly about historical events. Her role as witness was marginal. Over the years, we explored other aspects of her story and our mutual interest in the education of young children.
At some late stage of our journey she even found her lost diary that provided a timely perspective. It took 30 years to film and tell this story. Through sharing voices and memories of those who survived the times, we construct a panorama of personal history, thoughts and diary entries, in response to the events of the time. We always were close, but the process of learning and our dialogue throughout the journey brought us closer, and helped us capture the essence of the story orally and then passing it on.
