Amazing Live Sea Monkeys

This film is part of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival screenings in JCCSF’s Kanbar Hall.

For generations, comic-book readers encountered advertisements promising tiny humanoids that could come to “instant life” in water. Were Sea-Monkeys real, or were they simply a marketing gimmick sold to children? Amazing Live Sea Monkeys tells the story of their inventor, Harold von Braunhut, and his wife, Yolanda Signorelli, who was left to protect their legacy after his death.

When Yolanda finds herself locked in a legal stalemate with a major toy company, she struggles to preserve both her unwavering optimism and the magical woodland estate at the heart of the couple’s life and business. But as she champions the creatures that captivated millions, she must also confront the truth about Harold’s past. Directors Mark Becker and Aaron Schock chronicle Yolanda’s battle while uncovering the surprising and unsettling story behind the enduring novelty toy. —Karina Curry

Mark Becker is a director and editor His credits include Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae (2024), Art and Craft (co-director/editor, Emmy-nominated, Academy Award shortlisted), Romántico (2005), and Pressure Cooker (2008). He has also served as Supervising Editor on The Librarians (2025), which premiered at Sundance. Becker is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Aaron Schock is an Emmy-nominated documentary director whose award-winning work includes Circo, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and was distributed theatrically in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, as well as broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens and HBO internationally. His film La Laguna received a Cinema Eye Honors Award in 2017 among other distinctions and was released by Cinema Guild.

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