Punch Me in the Stomach (1997)

Based on the stage play by Alison Summers and Deb Filler. Multi-talented writer/performer Deb Filler stars in this adaptation of her autobiographical off-Broadway solo show about her life as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Through facial expressions, accents, and mannerisms, Filler magically transforms herself into a colorful array of characters modeled on various members of her own extended family. As herself, Filler recounts her experiences growing up Jewish in white Anglo-Saxon New Zealand and poignantly tells of visiting the sites of Nazi death camps with her father, Auschwitz survivor Sol Filler. Overflowing with pathos, love, passion, and humor, the performance is framed by backstage segments, which intimately reveal the person behind the characters. This very personal and inspiring film takes its audience from laughter to sadness...and back again.