Oma and Bella

Two old Jewish ladies living together in Berlin cook and remember their pasts in the documentary Oma and Bella. Friends for several decades, the two ladies now take care of one another. This is an intimate glimpse into the lives of two people, the kind of whom are now all almost gone. The women are survivors of the Holocaust and many of their memories of the event are harrowing; both of their parents were killed during this time and, in one sequence, a friend of the two talks briefly about her time in Auschwitz. The women mostly try to stay light-hearted, but they still honor and respect their past and are visibly shaken when they have to recall some of the events they lived through. This is honestly one of the more effective documentaries in some time. While some of the topics discussed are without a doubt depressing, the ladies stay happy and try to live their lives as fully and richly as possible. They are an inspiration; they show that, no matter what kind of hardships you go through, you can still overcome them and live your life joyfully.