At the end of World War II, Nathan Hilu, the son of Syrian Jewish immigrants to New York, received a life-changing assignment from the U.S. Army: to guard the top Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg trials. This experience fueled a lifetime of artistic inspiration for Nathan, a virtually unknown “outsider artist”, who spent the next 70 years obsessively creating a visual narrative from his memories. But what happens when those memories take on a life of their own?

Nathan-ism explores Nathan’s relationship with his own stories, and the compulsion he has to share them with a world that doesn’t always listen.

Credits
Director/Editor — Elan Golod
Producers — Melanie Vi Levy, Elan Golod
Executive Producer — Caryn Capotosto
Cinematography — Jason Blevins
Animation — Héloïse Dorsan-Rachet, Hectah Arias
Original Score — Christopher Bowen
Editorial Consultant — Geoff Richman A.C.E
Story Consultant — Harry Vaughn

World Premiere: Hot Docs 2023
Recipient of Jewish Story Partners grant, Fall 2022

Run time: 80 minutes