WILDER (feature documentary in progress)

Director: Kate Novack

Producer: Joanne Nerenberg and Kate Novack

WILDER tells the story of Holocaust survivors Ruth and Izzy Wilder, who, immediately after liberation in 1945, ran a lucrative black market at the former Nazi death camp Bergen-Belsen--the largest Displaced Persons camp in Germany--and begin to rebuild their shattered lives. The film traces the arc of Ruth and Izzy as they immigrate to America, and eventually manufacture the Bloomie’s “brown bag.” This past spring, Ruth and Izzy’s daughters, granddaughters, and great grand-daughter returned to Germany, determined to understand the place that shaped their family. Their journey forces them to confront the realities of starting over in a refugee camp, and what it took to pursue the elusive American Dream as immigrants in New York City.