The Wild One (2022)

The Wild One is a profoundly impactful documentary film that tells the life story of Jack Garfein, a survivor of the Holocaust from Czechoslovakia who went on to become an accomplished theater and film director in the United States. The film is directed by Tessa Louise-Salomé and is narrated off-screen by Willem Dafoe.

After surviving 11 concentration camps, Jack Garfein immigrated to the United States in 1946. Despite the suffering he endured, he did not break down and achieved remarkable success, becoming a director first on Broadway and then in Hollywood. While building his career, Garfein worked with important figures such as Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan and Marilyn Monroe, and it was he who co-founded the Hollywood chapter of the Actors Studio, training many aspiring actors. The movie is gripping in its uncompromising portrayal of Garfein's harrowing past in concentration camps, making it clear how these experiences shaped his artistic ideals. His resilience in the face of adversity is one of the main subjects of this movie.