Can the Holocaust be funny? That's the premise of The Last Laugh, a documentary film that features Holocaust survivors, as well as Jewish comedians, trying to answer that question. It's being screened this weekend at the University of Vermont, followed by a panel discussion with some of the filmmakers.
Director Ferne Pearlstein told VPR that the inspiration for the film's topic came after a discussion with a Holocaust survivor back in the early 1990s about Art Spiegelman's Maus.
Pearlstein's documentary, released in 2016, features comedians like Mel Brooks, Rob Reiner, Judy Gold and Sarah Silverman.
It’s a natural instinct, Pearlstein said, to use humor to process difficult and traumatic experiences.
“For whatever reason Jewish people are associated with it, but I think humor is very common in oppressed groups,” she said.
The Last Laugh screening and panel discussion will take place at the Fleming Museum of Art on Sunday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m.
Listen above to Ferne Pearlstein's conversation with VPR's Mitch Wertlieb about her film.
