Vera

NEW DOCS

Having retired to the countryside outside Rome, 87-year old Vera Martin single-handedly raises thoroughbreds, zestfully doing the heavy labor herself. The fates of two newborn foals take center stage in Vera’s life and the film. The former journalist, fluent in ten languages, tells her life story as stunning you-are-there footage of a colt’s birth plays on the screen—her happy childhood in the former Yugoslavia, her escape from the Fascists and into Italy at the age of 16, her dawning realization that she was the only member of her extended Croatian Jewish family to survive the Holocaust. The twin themes of loss and renewal are held aloft by the resolute spirit, wit, and grace of this extraordinary woman.  NK

Director

Francesca Melandri

Producer

Roberto Levy

Editor

Ilaria de Laurentiis

Cinematographer

Sabrina Varani

Release Year

2010

Festival Year

2011

Country

Italy

Run Time

48 minutes

Premiere

North American Premiere