A couple of years ago, Steve Gonzer of Middletown, Delaware, spent 20
years gathering testimonials of Holocaust survivors and liberators who
call Delaware their home. He edited those testimonials together into the
documentary No Denying: Delawareans Bear Witness to the Holocaust.
Dancing on a Volcano is the new documentary playing at the 15th
Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival and it captures the testimonial
of a holocaust survivor who doesn't call Delaware her home but
certainly has connections to the First State. Her name is Nadja
Hammermann from Austria and her story isn't just a harrowing one of
escape but it's also a powerful, love story, one that is probably best
told by Hammermann herself.
I talked to Hammermann's nephew, Patsy Cicala who is in part responsible
for bringing her story to the big screen. Hammermann was the senior
illustrator for The New York Times and Cicala took some of her
work to the Federal Street Gallery in Milton to be framed. Gary Merz,
the gallery's owner, realized the importance of the work and set up
an art show. After a trusting relationship was established, Hammermann
decided to work with Merz in creating this documentary.
Hammermann is an illustrator and Cicala went to a shop on Federal Street
in Milton to get her artwork framed. That's where he met owner, Gary
Merz whom he told about Hammermann. Merz was able to help clean and sell
her artwork for a good amount of money. Hammermann was so grateful that
she decided to give him her life story and thus the documentary Dancing on a Volcano, which Merz directed, was born.
Hammermann who now resides in New York City lived a great life and
accomplished a lot of things, and, as Cicala says, because of her, and
her love affair with Chilean consulate Armando Marine, more Jewish and
Christian people were saved than those by Oskar Schindler. The
particulars of that and the particulars of the rest of her amazing life
are better left coming from her. I haven't seen the movie, so I asked
Cicala to explain the meaning or provenance of the title. Cicala told
me, but, I certainly got the feeling that it would have been a more
interesting or engaging tale if I heard it from her.
Hammermann is over 100 years old. Cicala described her as the "Forrest
Gump of World War II." Merz captured 120 hours of interview tape, which
speaks to how much life she has to tell. Somehow, Merz managed to
distill it down to just over a hour of screen time. Yet, that hour is
filled with love, loss, heroics, celebrity, fashion and great art.
Dancing on a Volcano
Running Time: 1 hr. and 15 mins.
November 10, 2012 at 6:15PM.
Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival.
