Malka is a distinctive Oscar-qualifying short film that transforms Holocaust memory into a haunting musical through the lens of theatrical fantasy.

I suppose there’s a first time for everything. I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced the Holocaust as a musical by way of a short or feature film. Obviously, there’s The Producers but that’s more or less a film that makes fun of the Nazis, rather than focus on the Jewish perspective. Cabaret is a blind spot of mine, but the majority of the film predates the Nazis to my understanding. What we have here is a film that’s been described as Chicago meets Cabaret by way of Schindler’s List. It’s unique and that is definitely one way of putting it.

Holocaust education is a problem in this country. It’s one of the reasons why The Anne Frank Gift Shop was pushed for Best Live-Action Short a few years ago. Whether Malka will have any impact on educating this next generation, I don’t know. But for what it’s worth, the film has won awards at Oscar-qualifying film festivals so it must be doing something right, even if you’ve never seen a film like it before. Believe me, you probably haven’t.

During what begins as a routine Pesach seder, 90-year-old Malka (Tovah Feldshuh) hears her great-grandchild Zoe (Juniper Renee Verdon) grumble about the meal. That fleeting complaint fractures the present and suddenly Malka is transported from the dining room to a spectral stage, where she must relive the horrors of her youth in Auschwitz alongside her younger self (Annabelle Wachtel) and sister Ruchel (Lauren Elyse Buckley), unwilling to eat the food. Sequences take place at her childhood home in Klečenov and again as the family is rounded up.

In this haunting cabaret, each song is a scream, every movement a fight for survival, and the spotlight becomes both interrogator and witness. Her memories—grotesque, surreal, and achingly intimate—unfold before a silent, unflinching audience.

Through Stacey Maltin’s direction and Lenny Schwartz & Seth Bisen-Hersh’s script, Malka is not just a plunge into trauma. It is a short film that plays out as a triumphant ode to life, memory, and resilience—a testament to survival not only through suffering, but through art and spirit, reminding us that even after the darkest hours, dawn inevitably comes.

With a 17-minute runtime, the film is just long enough to get its message across. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder whether it would work the same way as a feature film. While the musical numbers in the film are brief and oftentimes haunting, I would be curious to see how they play out in a longer format. One moment in particular stands out: Tovah Feldshuh seamlessly takes to the stage and sings while Annabelle Wachtel looks on, eventually joining in a duet. I watched the performance of “Sunrise” in the screener a few times, noticing something new each time.

While serious in its own way, Malka isn’t without its puns, especially with the short film taking place against the backdrop of a Pesach seder. There’s charoset, maror, and even latke jokes. Yes, there are latkes at a Pesach seder, even though they are traditionally Chanukah foods. Since the film is inspired by co-writer Seth Bisen-Hersh’s grandmother, I’m assuming it’s a family tradition. The puns serve as comic relief, but they’re also necessary: we wouldn’t have been able to survive two-plus millennia of Jew-hatred without our sense of humor as a coping mechanism.

“We are Am Yisrael,” Malka says at the Pesach table, ending the film on a message of hope and reaffirming Jewish survival. I love how Malka concludes with this statement, especially after two-plus years of escalating Jew-hatred across the globe—and with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Am Yisrael Chai!

Malka is the type of film that should be starting conversations, especially given the level of Jew-hatred today. But will the people who need to watch films like this even bother to give it the time of day? I’ll tell you. I don’t know.

DIRECTOR: Stacey Maltin
SCREENWRITERS: Lenny Schwartz & Seth Bisen-Hersh
CAST: Tovah Feldshuh, Annabelle Wachtel, Lauren Elyse Buckley

Malka is currently playing the film festival circuit. Grade: 4/5

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