sylvia

Sylvia's Baklava
Behind-the-Scenes: The Life & Stories of Sylvia Rousso

*Invited to screen at the International Panorama of Independent Film in Greece, Sept. 2006

* U.S.A. Premiere at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater in New York City on Sunday, July 9, 2006
a beautiful theatre located in the trendy East Village neighborhood

*World Premiere: 2006 Cannes Film Festival * Short Film Corner

U.S.A. , 14 minutes.
* * * * *

Sylvia's Story
by Silvana Vienne

Growing up in Pre-World War II Greece, Sylvia Levy
studied French and dreamed of becoming a doctor one day.
Her father had an international business of textiles and clothing,
and he traveled to Yugoslavia often.

Sylvia's parents, Mois and Ester, were both born in Serbia.
Sylvia had an older sister, the gorgeous Bella (who was happily married and had
a baby, young Sylvia's niece); an older brother; and a younger brother.
They had a very happy childhood, a close and loving family;
Sylvia and her siblings loved playing with toys their parents bought for them,
such as a German doll that was singing.

When the war hit, Greece was originally occupied by the Italians.
According to Sylvia and other Greeks who survived that period,
the Italians were nice and kind of just minded their job without really
getting in the way or harrasing people.

The terror came when the Nazis invaded Greece and took over.

Sylvia's father passed away before the Nazis invaded Greece. There had
been an arrangement made with facilitators to take Sylvia (and Sylvia's
young cousin Rina) into Christian homes. Sylvia went away with Rina, en
route often hiding under trains - in Sylvia's words, 'If we are lucky,
we die; if we are not lucky, the Germans find us'. The rest of her
immediate family was all taken away to concentration camps, and she
never saw any of them again. All her life she had a recollection of her
younger brother, his little frame on the doorway, calling out to her as
she left for the last time: 'Sylvia, where are you going and you are
not taking me with you.' It was heartbreaking hearing Sylvia say this.

Sylvia was married soon after the war ended, to a kind
gentleman she met at a dinner party - Mois Israel Rousso.
They had one child, Tzeni Zana, and ran a children's clothing
manufacturing business/ store with Mois's brothers in Thessaloniki.
Tzeni was sent to an American school in Greece, and became fluent in both languages.

Sylvia's life continued to be eventful, as her daughter was married and
moved with her husband Nissim to the Amazon of Brazil in the early 70s -
an older relative of Mois' ran an import-export business, and it was too hard for him
to travel back and forth from Miami. So Nissim - a new father with new expenses -
took the job, giving up his job at the sugar factory and his studies to become
a university professor of Botany. He didn't know much about business
but he had a good mind, having been Valedictorian and having earned a Fullbright
Scholarship to MIT in Cambridge, MA, and to another college in Sweden in the 60s
(which accidentally, he had not taken as he did not want to leave his parents,
Anna and Baruch, his sister Sarah & brother Jacob.)

Sylvia, Mois and the two granddaughters followed. They lived there for 10 years.

Sylvia would tell us about the murders and horrors of the Holocaust,
but it was so unbelievable, I thought she was making it up to get us to eat our food.
Until we were told about it in school, officially from a teacher -- then it became real.

As her daughter worked, Sylvia often took us the granddaughters to
swimming lessons and competitions, movies, shopping for school supplies
in the what seemed to be 100+ degree weather of the Amazon,
to see travelling children's shows at the Manaus Opera House, to English language classes,
Israeli folk dancing, rhythmic dance, piano, tennis, gymnastics,
and to a French art school. Never a dull moment with Sylvia as our grandma!

One day I was waiting for my ride back from school, but nobody came.
It got darker and darker and the other group of night students started coming in.

They all seemed so grown up, but they were only a few years older than me.
It was so strange being there, because Sylvia always came to pick me up from school
with her driver as she never could drive.

But that day, she didn't come.

After what seemed to be a very long time, my father showed up.
He looked gloomy and sad. He didn't talk, and we drove to the Central Hospital.

My grandfather lay there, yellow, skinny as a rail, and dying.

On the way out, we got some chocolate ice cream, one of those that come on a stick.
It was something that sticks to my mind, because I never got any ice cream with my father before,
we only had ice cream once a week on Saturdays with Sylvia, and I always got coconut in a cup.
Then we went shopping for food in a supermarket,
another first with my Dad; that had been always Sylvia's thing.
So now we got things in cans, bachelor foods that you just pop open.

Sylvia's beloved husband Mois passed away in that Manaus hospital
a few weeks later, of liver cyrrosis.

From that day on, and for the next twenty years,
Sylvia dressed completely in black.

It was sad because the doctors had said he'd come back home,
but when we called the hospital that morning some nurses said he had died.

After her husband's death,
Sylvia started smoking cigarettes,
and singing my just born baby brother to sleep on her rocking chair.
Whether very old-fashioned or a die-hard romantic,
she never again even looked at another man, even years later when
I was working with a theatre group in Hartford, Connecticut,
she came to visit and my landlord Ben
wanted to take her out dancing -- she would just not hear of it.

Our grandfather is buried in the Jewish part of the cemetery in Manaus.
The rest of the family -- including Sylvia -- all moved to the
United States in August of 1981, officially invited in
via Nissim's sister Sarina, who had married
an American she met in a Kibbutz in Israel in the 70s.

Sylvia re-united with her cousin Rina, approximately 50 years after
their experience hiding under trains from the Nazis.
They met in Los Angeles, near the San Pedro/ Palos Verdes hills where Rina lived -
Another cousin - Louisa - more like Sylvia's aunt as she was twenty years her senior,
had found out Sylvia had moved to the USA and reconnected them.

Sylvia loved to follow the news, and knew everything that was going on.
She also had an amazing sense of intution about things and was the pillar of her family.

With Sylvia around, everyone believed they could achieve
whatever they set their minds to - as long as they
did the work, which of course Sylvia made sure everyone completed.

When one day out of the blue, I told her I wanted to be an actress and singer,
she got me a keyboard and microphone,
and encouraged me to sign up for Shakespeare acting classes.

In her later years she started wearing these huge sunglasses,
and had a manner that made people in passing wonder
if she was a movie star from the past.

But she never even would let anyone take her photo!
In fact, the most difficult thing in making this movie collection was probably
getting Sylvia to allow the camera to film her!
She would be all smiling and talkative, but as soon as the camera went on,
it was a completely different story.

Sylvia was an amazing chef, self-taught, and
always looking for new recipes and following dietary trends
she read about in magazines and newspapers.

Throughout her life in New Jersey, Sylvia was well-known
among family and friends for the delicious Baklava
she loved to make and share with everyone.

She passed away suddenly,
one year after the footage was shot;
of metastic pancreatic and liver cancer.
She chose to be cremated.

No one knew of her illness until only a few weeks prior to her passing;
she remained very strong until the end. She is greatly missed by all who knew her.

With this movie, we hope to bring & share
some of our Grandma Sylvia's amazing energy
into the hearts and minds of people throughout the world.

* * *

A Greek Dessert Films Production

Written & Directed by Silvana Vienne
Edited by Bradford S. Obie in Hollywood

Original Music by KittyKat and Neil Penninger,
Juan Colomer, Vincent Gillioz, T.O.T.S., Mike Andrews
Cinematography by Tzeni Zana, SunflowerMoon, Jann Castor

Special Thanks to Philip Langner & Ms. Patricia Neal.

Sylvia's husband
Mois

Now playing the original Stardust No. 2 song
Music by KiTtYkAt
with arrangement by Neil Penninger.