Because the sheer scale of [the Holocaust] is incomprehensible, humanizing it, in a documentary like Steal a Pencil for Me, keeps it vivid.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 7, 2008

endlessly fascinating

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 4, 2008

An idiosyncratic, largely anecdotal story with larger reverberations.

| Original Score: B | Nov 12, 2007

Love conquers all, including the Nazi war machine and an angry wife, in Ohayon's new Holocaust documentary.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 10, 2007

No first-person account of life in a Nazi concentration camp could ever be called 'romantic,' but the story of Jack Polak and Ina Soep -- comes close.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 9, 2007

Ohayan creates a fluid pace, matching the account of the survival with present day footage of the couple lecturing younger generations to raise Holocaust awareness.

Full Review | Nov 9, 2007

Not even Hollywood could invent a romance more extraordinary than this one.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 9, 2007

It's a Holocaust story unlike any other, and filmmaker Michele Ohayon treats it with an engaging sensitivity.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 9, 2007

Irrepressibly moving without being sentimental, Steal a Pencil for Me is a testimony to true love.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Nov 9, 2007

What makes Ms. Ohayon's movie special is its recognition that epic horrors don't erase private dramas.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 9, 2007

The filmmaker elegantly documents both the past and the present with a measured yet heartfelt sincerity.

| Nov 9, 2007

A misguided documentary that mistakes cutesy, polished aesthetics for meaningful sentiment.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 9, 2007

| Original Score: A | Nov 9, 2007

Some may think the Holocaust has nothing new to offer up, but Michele Ohayon says otherwise.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 8, 2007

The most moving story about love, longevity, infidelity and the Holocaust you may ever hear.

| Nov 8, 2007

There's incredible feeling behind Steal A Pencil For Me -- enough to sustain two lives throughout unimaginable hardship -- but the film doesn't bring much of it to the surface.

| Original Score: B- | Nov 8, 2007

Michle Ohayon's Steal a Pencil for Me offers a simple human story of dignity, levity and romance -- both unlikely qualities in the chaos and terror of Nazi-era Europe -- and exerts its own special charm.

| Nov 8, 2007

Filmmaker Michle Ohayon shapes her portrait of two vibrant old people with a fine hand (especially when it comes to interspersing historical footage), creating a valuable addition to the Cinema of Never Forget.

| Original Score: B+ | Nov 7, 2007

Each moment in 'Steal a Pencil for Me' is a witness to the power of people, the will to live and to love.

| Nov 3, 2007

Describing what Steal a Pencil for Me is about might actually do a disservice to this affectionately observed documentary.

Full Review | Oct 31, 2007