I Don’t Know What I’m Doing Here

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

Mima finds herself in the rural Romanian town of Săcel, the birthplace of her grandmother, Esther. She brings her good friend and the film’s director, Jacob Pincus, along to find evidence of Esther’s life before it was devastated by the Holocaust. Mima has an archived tape recording and a handful of photographs to guide her, but little else. As their journey unfolds, finding out anything about Esther’s life proves difficult in a community where historical traces are scarce.

I Don’t Know What I’m Doing Here is not about the journey–or even the result–but about not knowing. After Mima’s mother’s death, her grandmother Esther loomed even larger in the family’s imagination. What can you do in the face of absence and grief but attempt a degree of reconciliation? Pincus captures Mima’s determination, frustration, resolve, and warmth with a deft, roving handheld camera. He includes collage-like snippets of their journey alongside beautiful, contemplative shots of the places Esther once lived, all while illuminating Mima’s interiority as she gathers memories to bring home. —Karina Curry

Jacob Pincus is a filmmaker, artist, and organizer based in Los Angeles. After leaving the University of Southern California, he began developing his first feature documentary, following a road trip through Romania with a friend searching for family history. He is the founder of Cove Films and executive director of Our Art Fund, a nonprofit supporting artists and their work. He also serves as Assistant Producer at New Theater Hollywood, presenting live performance work with artists and theatermakers internationally. Pincus has worked extensively in community and political organizing, focusing on youth identity and narratives around Israel/Palestine, with an emphasis on justice and shared futures.

Jacob Pincus, USA, 86 min, World Premiere

All seating is first come, first served.

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