Amidst the terror of the Holocaust, could Bau: Artist at War
actually be the feel-good movie of the year?

I attended the world-premiere screening of Bau: Artist at War on Sunday—and I feel compelled to share it with you. Directed by Sean McNamara and written by Deborah Smerecnik, Ron Bass, and Sonia Kifferstein (with Joseph Bau’s memoir as source material, and contributions by Marc Griffith and Michelle P. Griffith), this is the story of Joseph Bau (Emile Hirsch) who meets and falls in love with Rebecca Tennenbaum (Inbar Lavi). In a way, it’s a typical love story, but this one is forged in the fires of the Holocaust, set in the Plaszów concentration camp, where art, wit, and humanity become acts of resistance.

I’d hoped for a good film, but this is something rare and truly special: it has heart, humor, history—and horror. This story was touched upon in Schindler’s List (indeed, Schindler is more than a minor character in this film) but here it is far more fleshed out. Joseph and Rebecca and are not just background stories, but vivid, compelling protagonists. Watching, I felt as though I were seeing echoes of ancestors: people who never escaped, who never got to laugh, create, or love in freedom. To see them portrayed with this depth of empathy was heartbreaking—and uplifting.

The film’s cinematography is by Shawn Seifert, whose framing elevates every scene into something almost painterly. Each setup a visual composition, every frame edged with intention. It’s astounding how even the concentration camp’s bleak corridors and watchtowers are rendered in moments of surprising beauty. Interspersed throughout are Joseph’s drawings—some haunting, others wryly funny—reminders of his inner world, the source of his survival.

The score—by John Coda—is outstanding. It underpins the emotional highs and lows without ever overstaying; it gives space for quiet moments to linger and for terror to feel real.

This film, like Schindler’s List, feels essential. It is a film that had to be made—and one that everyone should see. Amidst unspeakable atrocity, it may just be the feel-good movie of the year (if one can even use that term in this context). It even reminds me of a television commercial from the 1980s, when Herschel Bernardi urged audiences to see Fiddler on the Roof, warning that if you didn’t, you’d never forgive yourself—and your grandchildren certainly wouldn’t. A little Jewish guilt, perhaps, but the sentiment applies here. Don’t miss Bau: Artist at War. If you do, your children—and your grandchildren—may never forgive you.

Bau: Artist at War
130 minutes • 2024 • United States • black and white
opens theatrically nationwide on September 26, 2025
for screenings, visit Bau Movie