Movies for Grownups

Sonia’s granddaughter, Seattleite Leah Warshawski, produced and co-directed “Big Sonia” (l-r: Leah, Sonia and co-director Todd Soliday)

Seattle documentarian Leah Warshawski is no stranger to award-winning filmmaking. Her first feature, Finding Hillywood, won 6 awards and her latest, Big Sonia, has been nominated for AARP’s best documentary in their annual ‘Movies for Grownups’ awards.

Leah’s pilgrimage to her grandmother Sonia’s 85th birthday celebration in Kansas City five years ago inspired her to begin filming the story of the woman she calls her hero.

Standing tall at 4’8”, Sonia Warshawski is a tiny woman with a huge personality. She is one of the last remaining Holocaust survivors in Kansas City and one of the only survivors there who speaks publicly about her wartime experiences. Leah’s grandparents didn’t much discuss their history when she was growing up, and Leah calls it a challenge and joy for her to get to know her grandmother so well.

Born in Poland, Sonia spent her teenage years in three of the most notorious concentration camps before finally being liberated from Bergen Belsen 70 years ago. On liberation day, she was accidentally shot through the chest, yet miraculously survived.

But Sonia’s story did not end there—in fact, in some ways it is only just beginning. Sonia has spent the last 36 years running her late husband’s tailor shop (John’s Tailoring), the most popular shop of a dying mall in suburban Kansas City. With the decline of malls all over America, the shopping palace has been nearly empty for the last 10 years. Despite this, Sonia has carried on, holding court in her cozy domain—a colorful atmosphere that welcomes customers across the cultural spectrum. But Sonia has been served an eviction notice for her shop.

“Our film interweaves Sonia’s past and present using first-person narrative with stories from family and friends. Along the way, we learn valuable life lessons – “Soniaisms” – from a woman who can barely see over the steering wheel, yet insists on driving herself to work every day to run her late husband’s tailor shop,” remarks Leah. “Running the shop is Sonia’s entire being – it is the center of her life,” adds Leah. “Sonia is known for wearing leopard print and high heel shoes – she is the most popular woman I know. Her influence spans generations and cultures, and we see first-hand how she transforms a room of self-involved teenagers into thoughtful citizens.”

Leah has been by Sonia’s side documenting the tremendous impact her grandmother has been making as she shares her personal story to inspire the next generation. Big Sonia is the story of a little woman making a big impact.

Contributions to help ensure the film is distributed are most welcome. For more information, visit bigsonia.com.

MORE INFORMATION

AARP’s ‘Movies for Grownups’ awards celebrate standout films with unique appeal to movie lovers with a grownup state of mind—and recognizes the inspiring artists who make them. The 2016 winners will be announced at the AARP Awards on February 6th. Nominated films include: Arrival, Fences, Hello My Name is Doris, Jackie, La La Land, Lion, Loving, Manchester by the Sea, Silence and Sully.