Hi! I’m Ayelet Cohen, a filmmaker I decided to create “Living with Shadows”- a film that touches on a taboo subject hushed up in Israeli society and among Diaspora Jewry: sexual assaults during the Holocaust. In the times of the #metoo movement, we believe our project is more important than ever. We want the topic out in the open so that no victim of a sexual assault will ever have to hide or be ashamed of it. It is time to tell the truth.

The film idea won the support of a number of organizations as well as an award in the CoPro “AnimaDoc” competition. However, we may not use the funds we raised until we have the full amount of the budget. The money we raise in this campaign is intended to document elderly Holocaust survivors living among us, who wish to tell their stories, before it’s too late. Most who are in their 80s and 90s, were sexually assaulted during the war, and are still “living with shadows.” To seize this window of opportunity, we need 150 thousand shekels.
The film recreates events during the Shoah through documentary evidence from live witnesses, animated shadow puppets and actors who breathe life into the postwar testimonies given by victims of sexual abuse, many of whom have passed away.

Why is this relevant today?
The struggle against sexual violence is an ongoing battle, led by organizations which are assisting victims of sexual abuse in rehabilitating themselves. This issue has never been handled in a proper way and many victims of sexual abuse have been living in the shadow of unjustified blame and guilt. The film opens up an important and fundamental discourse on wartime sexual abuse, violence perpetrated under circumstances of inequality in status and authority, impacting the testimonies of the victims. Through this film we are attempting to shed light on this phenomenon which regretfully is continuing in numerous places throughout the world. The testimonies that will be document after the campaign will be used for educational purposes in Israel and outside.

Living with Shadows calls out to every person to recognize the power of sharing and to renounce guilt. The main character concludes by saying, “Since the war, and despite the fact that sexual abuse has been declared a war crime, nothing has changed. Women and men are being raped and become sex slaves in wars and combat zones today, everywhere, after the Kosovo War the UN declared sexual abuse a war crime, whose perpetrators can be brought to trial, but the real change lies in my standing before you and telling my own story directly, to you, future defenders of the State of Israel.”

Production Team:
Director: Ayelet Cohen; Animation Director: Shahaf Ram; Director of Photography: Meni Elias; Cameraman: Andrei Rozenblat; Editor: Amnon Karmi: Lydia Abramsson, Hadas Kalderon, Ilan hazan,Historical Consultants: Dr. Astrid Ley, Prof. Gideon Greif, Dr. Rochelle Saidel, Psychologist Kobi Turgeman; Other team members: Mor Lankri, Or Lankri, Leila Sonis, Benjamin Bitton, Rachel Ramras. English Writers: Michael Dekel, Maya Yarowsky, Barr Solnik, Judith Appleton;

The Film is supported by:
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany; The Yehoshua Rabinovich Foundation; The Jerusalem Film and Television Fund.