Samuel Bak: Painter of Questions

A film by Christa Singer

The artist Samuel Bak was born in the town of Vilna, Lithuania in 1933. A prodigy, his talent was recognized when he was three years old. With the outbreak of World War II, his childhood ended. He and his mother were hidden from the Nazis and were among the very few people who survived the extermination of the 70,000 Jews of Lithuania. Living in a displaced persons camp near Munich after the war, he was able to study the old masters. Finally mother and son emigrated to Jerusalem where Bak studied modern art.

The film explores the fulfillment of Bak's early promise and the way his Holocaust experience informed his tremendous artistic output. Bak's work, exhibited in major museums, is an attempt to come to terms with the atrocities that mankind has committed in the past and continues to perpetuate, fusing personal memories and experiences of inhumanity. In the film he returns to Vilna, "the place of pain," to bring about reconciliation with the past. The trip allows Bak to deal with subjects that are more personal, and make his art more accessible.

48 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. Video rental $75.

Sefarim, Oil Painting by Samuel Bak
Courtesy: Bernard Pucker Gallery, Boston

"I regard Samuel Bak as one of the great painters of the twentieth century...who has so successfully represented the mad cruelty of our era...in Bak's world, horror, humor, and dreams all solidify into one radioactive mass." Amos Oz, author

"Stunning graphics and a melancholy original score by Ken Whtely accompany this documentary on the life and works of painter Samuel Bak. Recommended for college collections." Susanne Boatright, Blue River Community College for Educational Media Reviews Online