Joe's Violin
2016 · 24m · United States
Directed by Kahane Cooperman
Genres: biography, documentary
Tones: contemplative, tender
A 91-year-old Holocaust survivor donates his cherished violin to a New York instrument drive, and it lands in the hands of a 12-year-old schoolgirl in the Bronx.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Look, I came in expecting the Holocaust-violin-saves-the-inner-city-kid tearjerker, and Cooperman just... doesn't give it to me—she's too smart for the obvious catharsis, which makes it weirdly subversive in its restraint.
This sits perfectly in the lineage of humanistic documentary—the formal architecture of parallel lives, the edit rhythm that lets silence do the work—and it knows exactly what tradition it's both honoring and gently complicating.
The decision to let the violin itself be the quiet hinge between two people's stories, rather than manufacture a meeting, is what makes the emotional weight feel earned instead of constructed.
Reviews
This Oscar-nominated documentary short tells a wonderful story about building a bridge between worlds that could not be more different. After an initial awkwardness dissipates, the emerging bond between the two speaks volumes about the ways that very distinct individuals can connect, and perhaps help each other heal.
Festivals
- Academy Awards 2017, Nominee – Best Documentary Short Subject