BETH TONI KRUVANT
Growing up in a typical upper-middle-class family in suburban New Jersey, Beth Toni Kruvant’s path seemed pretty predictable — college, then law school, then joining her father’s practice in Newark. And she pretty much stayed on that path for more than 20 years.
But then something happened.
Filmmaking happened.
And so, for the last quarter-century, the Montclair native has been an award-winning documentarian whose subjects have ranged from the past and present of Newark’s Weequahic High School to the perilous journeys of desperate immigrants.
Her latest short, “Finding Fate” (watch trailer below) — showing this month on various public television stations, including NJ PBS — took her to Poland, to document the lives of Ukrainian refugees. We watch mothers as they determinedly try to look forward. We watch them as they later look back, tearfully, thinking about what they may never have again.
It’s Kruvant’s latest film about people facing a crisis. But will it also be her last?
“Truthfully, after I finish a film I always say it’s my last one,” Kruvant, 70, says with a laugh. “The work is all so inundating, afterwards I just need to take a break and play with my grandchildren. But you never know when an idea is going to excite you. And when it does, the passion takes over.”
Q: What gave you the idea for “Finding Fate”?
A: My great-great-grandparents are from Ukraine. They emigrated from a village outside of Lviv, which I went back to visit once, years ago. I even met people who were living on my family’s old property. They were a little cautious until I convinced them that, no, I wasn’t here to try to reclaim it. Then they invited me in for a cup of tea. It was a fascinating experience — I even met a man who remembered my great-great-grandparents. So when the Russians invaded, I was immediately moved. There was this instant connection — as if it was the plight of my relatives reoccurring.
Q: You profile a number of Ukrainian women and children who found refuge in Poland. How did you get them to talk to you?
A: I was very lucky — when I got there, I found out everybody wanted to talk. What helped, though, was that I previously had a film at the Warsaw Jewish Film Festival, and I’d become friends with a guide there. I emailed him, and he told me the director of the JCC in Krakow was housing a lot of refugees.
Nastia and her daughter.
Q: I thought that was interesting because, frankly, I mostly think of the JCC as this great place in West Orange where my kids learned to swim. But it has an international presence, too.
A: Yes. This one in Krakow did not have a pool — they don’t have those resources — but it’s very much a true community center and a real part of the neighborhood. And when I got in touch with the director, he said I know someone who would be a great subject: Nastia, she’s here with her daughter, she speaks excellent English. That was really all I had, to start with. But then I had an onsite producer who knew a young cinematographer, who knew a sound person, and we all talked on the phone. And I have so much faith in Polish filmmakers — some of my favorite directors are Polish — I was like, “Yes, let’s do this.” So my crew was waiting for me when I got there.
Q: One of the interesting things — and positive things — about this film is the idea of building bridges between people. There is a history of anti-Semitism in Poland. There is a history of violent border clashes between Poland and Ukraine. Yet here are Christians fleeing the war in Ukraine, and finding safety in Poland, and in a Jewish community center.
A: Yes. Of course there are churches that are taking in people, too, but I found those details fascinating. I tried to highlight that by talking to this Polish mother of Ukrainian descent, who felt the need to reach out to help these refugees, partly because of Poland’s complicated past.
Q: Taking a step back to look at your career, I know you began your professional life as a lawyer. What made you, after more than 20 years of that, decide to become a documentarian?
A: It was actually because of my grandmother. I was very close to her, and when she died I wanted to find some way to connect her to my children, who were still very young. So I enrolled at the New York Film Academy. I went at night — I was still practicing law — but I studied filmmaking and ended up making this five-minute doc on my grandmother. And I realized I knew how to tell a story on film.
Q: And eventually, in 2009 – which I think was the first time I wrote about you — you made “Heart of Stone.”
A: Right, which was connected to my father, who had gone to Weequahic, but was also inspired by Principal Ron Stone, who was such an amazing person. And after that came out I got a grant to take the movie around the country on tour for a year, and I thought, “A year? OK, what’s it going to be now, law or film?” And I sort of segued into film.
Q: Your filmography covers a pretty varied collection of stories — African emigration to Israel, an Israeli/Palestinian friendship, the musician David Bromberg. But there also seems to be a through line there, of Jewish lives and Jewish culture.
A: Well, I assume that stems from my background, which was steeped in Jewish life. But yes, it is an interest. When you make a film, you have to dedicate so much time and effort to it, you really have to feel that pull. For example, I also give tours at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, for school kids. You know, Holocaust education is mandated now, in public school; there are kids who really know nothing about it, may not have even met any Jews. And so I actually enjoy doing these tours. My family is like, “You enjoy it?” But yes, it inspires me, teaching these kids, learning from these kids.
Q: “Finding Fate” will be shown on many PBS stations. But is there a worry that, under the current administration, certain documentaries may no longer get government grants or even show on public television — ones about immigration, or Black lives, or that are even pro-Ukraine?
A: If that’s the case — and it looks like it’s trending in that direction — it will be terrible. Censorship affects everything — you’re losing access to what’s happening, you’re losing information, you’re losing history, you’re losing your constitutional rights. It affects everything. And we can’t let that happen. When I was doing this film — and it took more than a year — I thought, it feels like many Americans have lost their connection to Ukraine, how the people are suffering there. And I thought — I hoped — that maybe this little short will help reconnect us on a deeper and more human level. Because what we’re seeing there — it happened before. And it’s happening again.
The 27-minute “Finding Fate” airs on NJ PBS, March 26 at 5:30 p.m. For information about it and Kruvant’s other films, visit goodfootageproductions.com.
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