As a storyteller myself, I sometimes prefer to be on the receiving end of a great story—especially one that is true, beautifully delivered, and relevant. For stories have power—to inspire us, to provide glimpses of the universal, and to, quite simply, entertain.
These two offerings deliver on every one of these counts, and I highly recommend them both:
documentary film
Lives Well Lived
Voices of our elders, stories you need to hear:
What is a life well lived? Documentary filmmaker Sky Bergman interviewed 40 individuals that one reviewer called “old in age and strangely compelling” about the legacy they would like to leave behind. It all began with a question she asked her almost-100-year-old grandmother: “Grandma, do you have some words of wisdom?”
“The last hundred years is the first time in human history that we’ve looked to anyone other than our elders for advice,” Bergman said. Watching the personal stories of the elders she speaks to in the film—hearing their experiences of resilience and transformation, of difficult choices and historical perspective—is inspiring. Individual stories that reveal universal truths and that touch our hearts—what could be better?
Lives Well Lived is currently airing on PBS; see where to watch it on your local PBS station here. And discover other ways to watch the film here.
See a trailer here:
memoir
We Share the Same Sky by Rachael Cerrotti
Narrative storytelling at its best, weaving family history and a modern-day journey:
We Share the Same Sky, a memoir (Blackstone, August 2021) by Rachael Cerrotti, is a follow-up to the critically acclaimed podcast of the same name. Both follow the author's journey to retrace her grandmother Hana’s steps through war-torn Europe. Hana’s experience of surviving the Holocaust was not some hidden family history; on the contrary, she spoke about it both within the family and publicly at schools and other venues. Cerrotti delved deeper, though, first by capturing Hana’s stories through a series of one-on-one interviews—then, after Hana’s death and Rachael’s immersion in Hana’s extensive archive of letters and writings, by literally following in her footsteps and, as she says, creating “a web of community.”
While Cerrotti gradually reveals Hana’s story to us, she also weaves in her own perspective and life changes, making for a poignant and powerful meditation on the meaning of inherited trauma and the elasticity of memory. She writes to her grandmother: “Your diaries and letters are the literature of your past, and each tells a slightly different story. I read and reread your stories as if they were fables, modern-day fairy tales that are constantly changing meaning. Every time I open to a familiar page, I read the words in a new way.” And isn’t that the nature of all family stories?
I generally recommend people read a book before seeing a movie version of the same story, but in this case I suggest newcomers immerse themselves in Cerrotti’s podcast before delving into the book. Its utterly poetic retracing of her and her grandmother’s journeys is narrative storytelling at its best, and hearing the voices of many of the players in the memoir is a beautiful prelude to seeing their words in print.
Listen to the first episode of “We Share the Same Sky,” the podcast, here:
Find more book and film recommendations related to the world of memory-keeping and personal history, and please let me know what you think of the options reviewed above!
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Dawn Roode, a personal historian based in northern New Jersey, helps individuals, families, and family-run businesses preserve their legacies in bespoke coffee table books.