An event celebrating new docuseries Plight will take place on Monday, June 16 at the Electric Lodge. According to the press release, “Plight is a deeply personal docuseries born from conversation, courage, and love – powered by Akiba members, the Aigner family! It began with the experiences of Holocaust survivors Eva & Leslie Aigner, and quickly grew into something more—a platform to honor people of all cultures facing injustice today, and to share their stories through the lens of love over hate.”
The event will include a conversation with Eva Agner, a personal artifact exhibit, a screening of S1: Love Beyond The Holocaust trailer, and a descendants Q&A.
Rob Aigner of the family spoke about the inspiration for Plight: “My parents, Eva and Leslie Aigner have been speaking publicly about their holocaust experience for over 40 years. My sister, Sue Johnson, and I have presented with them or in their stead over the years as well. In 2018, I started a podcast called Clear Choices. The concept of the podcast was to highlight the challenges we all go through in life. I only interviewed those who turned their challenges or even tragedies into something greater. I focused on people who came through hardship with grace, resilience, good humor and even in exceptional fashion. Not surprisingly, I decided that the first few episodes would highlight my parents experience during the holocaust. Those interviews, coupled with the vast history my family has with the telling of this journey, lead to wanting to document their history in a more significant way. I was introduced to our producer, Diane Harris, by another Culver City resident, Beth Stewart and from there the concept of the Plight Docuseries began to take shape.”
Rob said that the project hasn’t been without its challenges. “As anyone who has ever produced a play, a film, a record album or even an open mic night will tell you that getting a project off the ground is incredibly difficult,” he said. “In fact, I would say it is good that we come from resilient stock as it has been challenging. First, we must make sure people understand this isn’t another project that solely focuses on the holocaust. This is a docuseries (emphasis on the word series). The first six episodes will focus on my parents’ survival of the holocaust, their insistence to spread love over hate and then providing an education to their community for 40 years. But the next six episodes will focus on other people’s “Plight” and how they triumphed over it. We might focus on Tibetan refuges, Ukrainian war survivors or some other disenfranchised part of society that has turned their personal challenge into a positive, teachable moment.”
“The process, for us, has consisted of archiving all the photos, interviews, TV appearances, thank you letters, historical documents to see what we already had,” Rob added. “Then, we’ve been workshopping the concept described above on weekly zoom calls with my mother, sister, and our producer Diane. We have created a sizzle reel, a look book, and a concept outline. All this while we are pitching the concept to anyone and everyone, we might know that has a foothold in the entertainment industry or the desire to fund a project such as this. We have attached ourselves to a 5013c (The Media Policy Center) so people can make tax deductible donations to the project. All this has taken place over the last 18 months. The event at the Electric Lodge is the first time we have done a public event to promote our project.”
The family believes that this is a poignant time to release this docuseries. “My father passed away in 2021 and he would have been devastated to see the amount of division there is in our world today,” Rob said. “The fact that hatred and antisemitism are on such a sharp increase right is hard for all of us. My mother is now 87 years old and continues to believe that the only way we can improve the situation is to tell people what happened and show that we all have the ability to love each other. The fact that my mother still chooses to see the world as a place of love and possibility after everything she has been through is nothing short of remarkable.”
Rob said that the reaction to Plight has so far been very positive. “Everyone who has taken the time to look at our materials or speak with us and understand fully the concept seems to be truly excited about it,” he said. “We know it has the potential to be long lived and transformative. As always, though, it takes money to get things done. We just need to get enough funding to make the first six episodes and then we truly feel this concept could take on a life of its own and have a massive impact.”
Visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/plight-an-intimate-evening-with-eva-aigner-tickets-1368109224519 for all of the information about the event.