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CHAJA (She Lives)

A Short Film based on a true story from Hamburg, Germany. Chaja Rywa Balck is a born Jewish woman who was baptized as a Christian during the rise of the NSDAP in Germany. While she loses her only protection and has to live in seclusion after the death of her Aryan husband, an old acquaintance reconnects her with her lost Jewish roots.

  • Nelson Udoh
    Writer
  • Mateusz Misiarz
    Writer
    Burning Heroes
  • Nelson Udoh
    Director
  • Mateusz Misiarz
    Director
    Burning Heroes
  • Mateusz Misiarz
    Producer
    Burning Heroes
  • Svenja Ruge
    Key Cast
    "Chaja Balck"
    Ashes to Ashes, Schauder, Evas Eck, Die Wiederkehr - Sem Dhul
  • Mateusz Misiarz
    Director of Photography
    Burning Heroes
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    CHAJA (Sie lebt)
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 27, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    1,300 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany
  • Language:
    English, German
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of Europe for Applied Sciences
Director Biography - Nelson Udoh, Mateusz Misiarz

Nelson Udoh, born in Bremen, Germany 2002, moved to Hamburg, Germany to study Film & Motion Design. Since he started with drawings and animations, he decided to test and learn on his own writing skills and directing in movies what brings him to create his debut film "CHAJA (She Lives)".

Mateusz Misiarz, born in Tychy, Poland in 2003, lives since 2011 in Hamburg, Germany. While making his high school degree in 2023, he did find out that his artist hearth burns for the film industry, and so he decided to join the film industry. Since end of 2023 he's study Filmmaking in Hamburg, with the focus on being Director of Photography and a Creative Director.

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Director Statement

Our film, Chaja, was inspired by the real person of the same name. What makes this story a tragedy is not only that a group has been deprived of their human rights, but that our protagonist has caused their suffering through her conscious choices. This powerlessness, which robs one of any courage to act, is what makes this film so special. Moreover, she is plagued by an identity crisis; she is part of multiple cultures and doesn't know how to deal with it. In our globalized world, there are also many people who have to maneuver through multiple cultures, and so our film stands out from one that sheds light on the events of a particular group at a particular time, to one that sheds a light on the conditio humana, the universal human hurdles and experiences. We, as persons with a diverse background, felt a similar sentiment to Chaja at the beginning of the story, but now that we embarked on a terrifying and at the same time optimistic journey with this character, we are questioning myself; we are questioning how we would handled the different cultures we get surrounded by. Fortunately, we see a little optimism in the final scenes. That optimism comes not from the Allies winning and saving all the Jews, but from Chaja gaining inner confidence and finding pride in her identity; without medals, without money, without someone saying "you’re one of the right people now", she can say "I'm proud of who I am." Such courage, such a balanced identity, gives you the resilience that says "I'll go on living and fighting for a better world for us" and gives you more strength than "hold on, rescue will come soon." And if the audience leaves the room with such a burning heart, then we can say that we have done our job as filmmakers.