BIG SONIA:

A remarkable story of a remarkable woman. Sonia Warshawski is a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor and seamstress extraordinaire. The movie is directed by Todd Soliday and Sonia’s granddaughter Leah Warshawski and follows Sonia as she goes about her day-to-day life as a tailor and inspirational speaker. Sonia comes off as very inspiring and positive person. The way she impacts peoples lives is documented as she visits schools and prisons and shares her life experiences and Holocaust survival stories with teens and prisoners. The way she reaches these intimidating prisoners and turns them into teddy bears is quite impressive. Soliday and Warshawski manage to capture the essence and persona of Sonia and let it guide the film.

It’s hard not to be amazed and drawn to Sonia. She has a huge personality and seeing her engage and impact people from various backgrounds is touching. This film will make you sad and laugh. It will make you want to cherish your mother. It will make you aware that engaging with people in a positive way can change someones life. Also expect to see some gelatin covered fish. For real. It’s quite unappealing, but only Sonia can make you consider otherwise.

Big Sonia releases in select theaters on Friday, November 17