Gabriela Böhm (; born 1964) is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

from Buenos Aires, Argentina now living in Los Angeles.

Background

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

to immigrant parents — survivors of the Holocaust — she completed high school and the army in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

before she moved to the United States. Böhm is fluent in Spanish, English and Hebrew. She studied painting, sculpture, art history, photography and film at A Midrasha Le Morim Leomanut Art School in Israel (1985–1986), got a BFA from

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

(1990) and is an MFA candidate in documentary film at the Maine Media College.

Film career

Her first feature-length documentary, ''Passages'' (2000), which she wrote, directed and produced with her company Böhm Productions, won the Best Documentary award at the

Woodstock Film Festival The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival launched in 2000 by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto in the Hudson Valley region of New York. The festival takes place each fall in the towns of Woodstock, Rosendale and Saug ...

. This personal film was a search into her family's history in an attempt to pass on its legacy to her unborn son. Böhm also wrote, directed, produced and co-edited ''The Longing: The Forgotten Jews of South America'' (2007), which has won numerous awards including Best Documentary at the Long Island Latino International Film Festival, a Telly Award for Religion and Spirituality, and Best Latino Film at the

Santa Fe Film Festival The Santa Fe Film Festival is a non-profit organization which presents important world cinema that represents aesthetic, critical, and entertainment standards highlighting New Mexican film. The organization partners with educational groups, school ...

. The film tells the story of modern-day

Crypto-Jews Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden'). The term is especially applied historically to Spani ...

(or

marranos ''Marranos'' is a term for Spanish and Portuguese Jews, as well as Navarrese jews, who converted to Christianity, either voluntarily or by Spanish or Portuguese royal coercion, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but who continued t ...

) forced to convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

during the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

in Spain and Portugal and who are now returning to their Jewish faith. The film has screened internationally at film festivals in the US, Canada, South America, Europe and Israel. Böhm wrote, directed, produced and co-edited ''Raquel: a marked woman'' (2014) which has screened in the US, Canada, Europe and Israel. Synopsis: Raquel's story is from another time, but resonates today. A mother, she was torn from her children and tricked into prostitution. In the early 20th century, thousands of Eastern European Jewish women were lured to Argentina and forced into prostitution. Others gave up. Not Raquel. Bravely, she exposed her oppressors. The film has been honored with a Bronze Telly Award — Non-Broadcast Film/Video — History/Biography (2015). Other awards include: Silver Prize, Robinson International Short Film Competition (2015), Best Short Documentary/Punta del Este Jewish Film Festival (2015), Founders Award: The Joyce Forum/San Diego Jewish Film Festival (2015), Best in Fest Selection/ Palm Springs International ShortFest (2014) and Best Short Documentary/Warsaw Jewish Film Festival (2014). She also directed, produced, wrote and edited ''Voice-Less'', a short experimental film that screened at many US film festivals.

Personal life

Today Böhm is an American citizen, and she lives with her son in Los Angeles.

Filmography

* ''Raquel: a marked woman'' (2014) - 34 min * ''The Longing: the Forgotten Jews of South America'' (2007) - 75 min * ''Passages'' (2000) - 65 min * ''The Wild Side'' - short documentary * ''Voice-less'' (1990) - short film

References

External links

Bohm Productions Homepage
* *
Bohm live on Santa Fe Radio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohm, Gabriela American documentary filmmakers American people of Argentine-Jewish descent 1964 births Living people Argentine emigrants to Israel Argentine Jews Israeli emigrants to the United States Tisch School of the Arts alumni Maine Media College alumni Film people from Buenos Aires American women documentary filmmakers