My Friend Sam
Date : Thursday, May 14, 2026
Singer-songwriter Regina Spektor’s life changed forever when, as a child, she was taken under the wings of musicians Sonia Vargas and Samuel Marder. Now Marder, a widower and Holocaust survivor, is speaking out about his painful past, with Spektor at his side. Grounded in their profound intergenerational friendship, this inspirational tale shows how music can help us in the worst of times.
My Friend Sam
Singer-songwriter Regina Spektor’s life changed forever when, as a child, she was taken under the wing of musicians Sonia Vargas and Samuel Marder.
Blending frank interviews with powerful animation, Samuel walks through his childhood in Romania, the trials he faced as a Holocaust survivor, and the transformative impact that music had even during the darkest times. His endurance as a violinist and the lessons he shared with Regina charted the course of her own musical development for the decades that followed.
Q&A with producer Regina Spektor following the screening.
- Dir. Daniel Ryan | United States | 2026
- Documentary | 40 min
- English and German w/English subtitles
Schedule
The Sea
Never Alone
Frontier