A filmmaker creates a puzzle to connect with her private grandfather

Ora DeKornfeld directed a documentary short called The Grandfather Puzzle to explore the history of her grandfather, who lived in Hungary.

DeKornfeld chose to make the film after her grandfather turned 99 years old. He had previously refused all of her requests to record his life story, remaining private about his past. DeKornfeld traveled to the castle in Hungary where her grandfather grew up to photograph the location.

She turned that image into a jigsaw puzzle and brought it to her home in Baltimore. She hoped the activity would help her grandfather share memories of the life he left behind. During her trip, the local community welcomed her with gifts and speeches, though they did not discuss the reasons why her family fled the country. The film aims to acknowledge the weight of the Holocaust without defining her grandfather solely as a victim.

Although her grandfather died in August without watching the finished film, DeKornfeld says the process of making the movie brought her closer to him. She hopes the project shows that people should put in the effort to connect with loved ones even when those connections are difficult to forge.