Hosted and Sponsored by Colorado College Hillel and The Greenberg Center for Learning and Tolerance in partnership with Temple Shalom and First Christian Church.

FREE tickets available in advance. Seating is first-come, first served.
Reserve your tickets at the following link: https://big-sonia.eventbrite.com

Film Trailer: https://bigsonia.com/trailer-media/
Additional Film Resources: https://bigsonia.com/resources/

Big Sonia is a 2016 award-winning documentary film about the life of Sonia Warshawski, a 94-year old survivor of the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Sonia experienced unspeakable horror as a teenager growing up in Poland during the Nazi occupation. She is also a great-grandmother, tenacious businesswoman, and a 4’8″ diva with a BIG personality. This film is a poignant story of generational trauma and healing with moments of humor and humanity that demonstrate the power of love to triumph over bigotry and the power of truth telling to heal us all.

This FREE event features a screening of the 90-minute award-winning documentary by talented filmmaker, Leah Warshawski, who is also Sonia’s granddaughter. Leah describes the film as a story about humanity: our human potential to overcome even the worst of the world’s sins and atrocities with compassion and understanding. “It’s a tale about survival, but not only the heroic kind — the kind that is forced upon victims of genocide. It’s also about the everyday acts of survival we all undertake just to be human, to overlook slights, to rise above bigotry, ignorance and self-doubt, and to push for forgiveness even when our instincts urge retribution or bitterness.” Sometimes the really big stories come from the smallest places. This tiny woman with a big personality will win you over.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A and reception. Joining us for the Q&A will be Regina Warshawski Kort, Sonia’s daughter, and SuEllen Fried, an advisor to the film. Regina coordinates Sonia’s many speaking engagements. SuEllen Fried is a social activist in the fields of mental health, child abuse prevention, and bullying/peer abuse, who co-founded Reaching Out From Within, a self-help program for men and women who are incarcerated.

• Doors Open at 3:30pm — Film starts at 4:00pm. followed by a Q&A with Regina Kort and SuEllen Fried

• Stay for a reception (light appetizers and drinks) in the lobby of the Cornerstone Center following the Q&A to meet Regina and SuEllen in person and continue the conversation with others who attended the event. Hosted by the Greenberg Center.

• The film is unrated but appropriate for all ages with some mature content.

• This FREE event is offered to the Colorado Springs community in conjunction with the 2019 Holocaust Day of Remembrance.