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Vishniac

Play trailer 2:16 Poster for Vishniac 2024 1h 35m Documentary Biography History Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 9 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Roman Vishniac is best known for having traversed Eastern Europe from 1935 through 1938, on assignment to photograph Jewish life. Less than a decade later these communities would be wiped out and Vishniac's iconic photographs would provide the last visual records of an entire world. Through his photographs, we see Jewish life -- in Eastern European shtetls and in Weimar-era Berlin -- and witness the Nazi rise to power. After the war, his documentation continued with photographs of Berlin in ruins and Jewish children in Displaced Persons camps. Vishniac was also a respected scientist who made considerable contributions in the field of microscopic photography. His "Living Biology" series, funded by the National Science Foundation, were some of the first films depicting life through a microscope and became a staple in the 1960s and 1970s in classrooms across the United States. His pioneering microscopy transformed the nature of science photography. VISHNIAC delves into the person and story behind the photos as it frames Vishniac's legacy as a key modernist photographer and preserver of memory. Through his stunning images, VISHNIAC introduces new audiences to a lost world that is quickly fading from our grasp.

Critics Reviews

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Leonard Maltin leonardmaltin.com 01/22/2024
‘Vishniac’ is a perfect marriage of subject and storyteller. Thank goodness Laura Bialis was able to interview Vishniac’s daughter Mara, who passed away in 2018, and accumulate all the background materials that make this film so vividly true Go to Full Review PJ Grisar The Forward 05/14/2024
Bialis’ slick dramatizations of Vishniac’s life, while tastefully done, are underwhelming when paired with the immediacy of the photographer’s own images. Go to Full Review Dennis Harvey 48 Hills 02/02/2024
The horror is offscreen yet inescapable... Go to Full Review Jeanne Kaplan Kaplan vs. Kaplan 01/23/2024
Bialis has done a masterful job bringing Vishniac’s magic and passions to the big screen, which was her sincerest hope. Go to Full Review David Kaplan Kaplan vs. Kaplan 01/23/2024
VISHNIAC represents a small piece of history, but certainly a fascinating one. Go to Full Review Nora Lee Mandel Maven's Nest 01/19/2024
8/10
Bialis reveals his and his family’s lives behind iconic photographs from her access over three years to the complete Vishniac archive of over 23,000 items. She also well illustrates times and places with other apt archival footage and visual context. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Gene L 01/22/2024 Excellent documentary. Must see! See more Read all reviews
Vishniac

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Cast & Crew

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Laura Bialis

Director

Bradley Brennan

Young Roman

July Hodara

Luta Vishniac

Sophie Sartain

Writer

Laura Bialis

Producer

Roberta Grossman

Producer

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Vishniac

Vishniac: Trailer 1 Vishniac: Trailer 1 2:16 View more videos
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Vishniac

Vishniac (2023) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Roman Vishniac is best known for having traversed Eastern Europe from 1935 through 1938, on assignment to photograph Jewish life. Less than a decade later these communities would be wiped out and Vishniac's iconic photographs would provide the last visual records of an entire world. Through his photographs, we see Jewish life -- in Eastern European shtetls and in Weimar-era Berlin -- and witness the Nazi rise to power. After the war, his documentation continued with photographs of Berlin in ruins and Jewish children in Displaced Persons camps. Vishniac was also a respected scientist who made considerable contributions in the field of microscopic photography. His "Living Biology" series, funded by the National Science Foundation, were some of the first films depicting life through a microscope and became a staple in the 1960s and 1970s in classrooms across the United States. His pioneering microscopy transformed the nature of science photography. VISHNIAC delves into the person and story behind the photos as it frames Vishniac's legacy as a key modernist photographer and preserver of memory. Through his stunning images, VISHNIAC introduces new audiences to a lost world that is quickly fading from our grasp.
Director
Laura Bialis
Producer
Laura Bialis, Roberta Grossman
Screenwriter
Sophie Sartain
Distributor
Abramorama
Production Co
Katahdin Productions
Genre
Documentary, Biography, History
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 19, 2024, Limited
Runtime
1h 35m