3/28/13
Screening Report #2: Summer of Aviyah Although it is common to refer to those whom escaped the horrors of the Holocaust as Holocaust survivors, no one truly survived it; they endured it and made it out alive. In the film, Summer of Aviyah, this notion is made clear though the portrayal of the main character’s life, Aviyah. Aviyah and her mother are Holocaust survivors who emigrated and made refuge in the newly founded state of Israel. While they escaped the physical traumas of the Holocaust, the physiological traumas are still clearly present for Aviyah’s mother. Aviyah may have little to no memory of her life before Israel, but it undoubtedly shaped who she is too. The film begins with Aviyah rehearsing for a play and she insists to her teacher that her mother will not come. To her surprise, her mother shows up right as she is about to sing, but then she freezes up due to the immense shock. After leaving, her mother notices lice in her hair, which leads up to the scene that I find to be most shocking. Just as it was done in the concentration camps, Aviyah’s mother fully shaves her head. In this moment of chaos, as Aviyah is crying and begging her mother not to, it felt almost as if her mother was trying to show her in a small for what it was like in the concentration camps. It was a devastating scene.
Aviyah is a young girl that shares the same aspirations and dream that many young girls have. She simply wants to be a part of the group, but she cannot be because her life is full of craziness. Her mother goes in and out of mental stability and she is caught in the middle of it. In the end, she realizes that she cannot bring her father back from the dead, she cannot change who her mother is or how she behaves, but she does know that she can be her own person and determine her own destiny.