Gabriela Böhm
Encyclopedia
Gabriela Böhm is an award-winning independent
documentary
filmmaker from Buenos Aires, Argentina now living in Los Angeles
.
, Argentina
to immigrant parents — survivors of the Holocaust — she completed high school and the army in Israel
before she moved to the United States. Böhm is fluent in Spanish, English and Hebrew. She studied painting, sculpture, art history, photography and film at A Midrasha Le Morim Leomanut Art School in Israel (1985–1986), got a BFA from New York University
Tisch School of the Arts
(1990) and is an MFA candidate in documentary film at the Maine Media College.
. This personal film was a search into her family's history in an attempt to pass on its legacy to her unborn son.
Böhm also wrote, directed, produced and co-edited The Longing: The Forgotten Jews of South America (2007), which has won numerous awards including Best Documentary at the Long Island Latino International Film Festival, a Telly Award for Religion and Spirituality, and Best Latino Film at the Santa Fe Film Festival
. The film tells the story of modern day Crypto-Jews (or marranos) forced to convert to Catholicism
during the Inquisition
in Spain and Portugal and who are now returning to their Jewish faith. The film has screened internationally at film festivals in the US, Canada, South America, Europe and Israel.
She also directed, produced, wrote and edited Voice-Less, a short experimental film that screened at many US film festivals.
Böhm is currently in pre-production for her latest documentary project, Meideles of the Night (working title), a full-length documentary about the 20th century Jewish white slave trade in South America.
citizen, and she lives with her son, Natanyel, in Los Angeles.
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
filmmaker from Buenos Aires, Argentina now living in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Background
Born in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
to immigrant parents — survivors of the Holocaust — she completed high school and the army in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
before she moved to the United States. Böhm is fluent in Spanish, English and Hebrew. She studied painting, sculpture, art history, photography and film at A Midrasha Le Morim Leomanut Art School in Israel (1985–1986), got a BFA from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
(1990) and is an MFA candidate in documentary film at the Maine Media College.
Film career
Her first feature-length documentary, Passages (2000), which she wrote, directed and produced with her company Böhm Productions, won the Best Documentary award at the Woodstock Film FestivalWoodstock Film Festival
The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was begun in 1999. The festival was first conceived as a part of the Woodstock '99 Music and Arts Festival, with movies being screened as part of that event.-History:...
. This personal film was a search into her family's history in an attempt to pass on its legacy to her unborn son.
Böhm also wrote, directed, produced and co-edited The Longing: The Forgotten Jews of South America (2007), which has won numerous awards including Best Documentary at the Long Island Latino International Film Festival, a Telly Award for Religion and Spirituality, and Best Latino Film at the Santa Fe Film Festival
Santa Fe Film Festival
The Santa Fe Film Festival is a Non-Profit Organization which presents important world cinema in a non-commercial context that represents aesthetic, critical and entertainment standards highlighting New Mexican film, new American and foreign film including revivals, retrospectives, independent...
. The film tells the story of modern day Crypto-Jews (or marranos) forced to convert to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
during the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
in Spain and Portugal and who are now returning to their Jewish faith. The film has screened internationally at film festivals in the US, Canada, South America, Europe and Israel.
She also directed, produced, wrote and edited Voice-Less, a short experimental film that screened at many US film festivals.
Böhm is currently in pre-production for her latest documentary project, Meideles of the Night (working title), a full-length documentary about the 20th century Jewish white slave trade in South America.
Personal life
Today Böhm is an AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
citizen, and she lives with her son, Natanyel, in Los Angeles.
Filmography
- The Longing: the Forgotten Jews of South America (2007) - 75 min
- Passages (2000) - 65 min
- The Wild Side - short documentary
- Voice-less (1990) - short film
Awards and recognition
- Best Documentary Feature at the Woodstock Film FestivalWoodstock Film FestivalThe Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was begun in 1999. The festival was first conceived as a part of the Woodstock '99 Music and Arts Festival, with movies being screened as part of that event.-History:...
- Best Latino Film at the Santa Fe Film FestivalSanta Fe Film FestivalThe Santa Fe Film Festival is a Non-Profit Organization which presents important world cinema in a non-commercial context that represents aesthetic, critical and entertainment standards highlighting New Mexican film, new American and foreign film including revivals, retrospectives, independent...
- Best Documentary Feature at the Long Island Latino International Film Festival
- Bronze Telly Award for Spirituality/Religion
- Jury Award at the Tampa Jewish Film Festival
- Honorable Mention at the Orlando Hispanic Film Festival