In the last store in a defunct Kansas City shopping mall, 91-year-old Sonia Warshawski — great-grandmother, businesswoman and Holocaust survivor — runs the tailor shop she’s owned for more than 30 years. But when she’s served an eviction notice, the specter of retirement prompts Sonia to revisit her harrowing past as a refugee and witness to genocide. A poignant story of generational trauma and healing, Big Sonia also offers a laugh-out-loud funny portrait of the power of love to triumph over bigotry, and the power of truth-telling to heal us all.
Next broadcast date: July 9, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. on KCPBS
Learn more about this film at bigsonia.com.
"After an incredibly successful run at local theaters over the last year in Kansas City, we were thrilled to be able to arrange for Big Sonia to come to the broadcast screen. Sonia has been a treasure in Kansas City, and many people know her through her long-running tailoring shop, but she has a bigger story to tell, and it's very, very important. Being able to put this on the air the night before Passover begins seems like the perfect spot, and KCPT is grateful that the filmmakers agreed!" —Michael Murphy, KCPBS Director of Programming (March 2019)