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Logline

When Gidon Lev was just 6 years old, he arrived at the Nazi concentration camp of Theresienstadt. When he was 85 years old, he took social media by storm.

Synopsis

Follow Me is a feature length documentary about an octogenarian who upends everything you assumed knew about Holocaust survivors, aging, and thriving in a world gone mad. The film follows this rascal, dairyman, father of six, and Holocaust survivor as he retraces his childhood in Theresienstadt and his life in Israel, from being a kibbutznik to a social media sensation, to visiting the site of the October 7th massacre so many years later. Follow Me invites viewers to explore even deeper, beyond the noise and drama of social media and politics: who is this lost little boy who lost his family in the Holocaust? How is it that Gidon has a Californian girlfriend 30 years younger than him and why does he want to meet Steven Spielberg so badly? And what did he think when he met Elon Musk? Perhaps most importantly of all, Follow Me asks two key questions: Who will tell their stories when the last Holocaust survivor is gone? How can educators, students and ordinary people take up their legacy of promoting tolerance?

Appearances: Sharon Stone, Montana Tucker, Andy Cohen, Gary Wexler, Robert Williams and more.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Yaniv Rokah – Director/Producer
An actor, writer, director and producer Yaniv Rokah resides in Manhattan. His directorial debut Queen Mimi, a documentary about Mimi Haist, an elderly homeless woman in Los Angeles. With appearances by Zach Galifianakis and Renee Zellwegger, screened around the world and won best documentary at Hot Springs Film Festival, Manhattan Film Festival and the St. Tropez International Film Festival. The film landed a global distribution deal through Netflix.

His narrative short film Black Hat, about a conflicted member of the Orthodox Jewish community won several film festival awards in 2019, including the prestigious Iris Prize, American Pavilion at Cannes Film Festival and The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Black Hat was an official selection at the Tribeca Film Festival and landed a distribution deal with HBO Europe.

Danny Cohen – Executive Producer
Danny Cohen is the president of Access Entertainment. Access Entertainment finances and produces films with leading directors and actors. Danny serves as the Executive Producer for each of their films. Prior to joining Access in May 2016, Danny was Director of BBC Television, where he led the BBC’s Television Networks and BBC Productions. He was a member of the Board of the BBC. Danny and Access Entertainment recently produced the Academy Award-winning film The Zone of Interest.

Elliot V Kotek – Executive Producer
The producer of Yaniv Rokah’s Queen Mimi and other award-winning festival-favorites such as the Netlix Original Little Miss Sumo and the NBC Peacock Original Black Boys, Elliot Kotek is a recognized leader in the power of purposeful content. He is a member of the Television Academy and the Producers Guild of America, and his innovative branded documentaries for the likes of AARP, Accenture, Aflac, Campbell’s, Hyundai & the UNDP, LEGO, New Balance, Whirlpool & Habitat for Humanity have racked up several billion media impressions and earned 7 Emmy nominations, 5 Cannes Lions, 4 SxSW Innovation Awards, 2 Clios, 2 Anthem Awards, multiple Webby honors, archiving at MoMA as well as recognition from the U.S. Congress and House of Representatives.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.