1598757
1598757

The Optimist

2026-03-11 en
Drama
For more than sixty years, children’s store owner and Holocaust survivor Herbert Heller lived with the weight of the horrors he endured as a 15-year-old imprisoned in Terezin and Auschwitz. As illness forces him to confront the silence he kept—even from his own family—he forms a surprising friendship with Abbey, a teenager navigating her own emotional fractures. Through their growing connection, Herbert is inspired to finally share his truth, opening a path toward empathy, forgiveness, and renewal.

Writer

Finn Taylor

Director

Finn Taylor

Producer

Jeanine Thomas

Producer

Noah Lang

Executive Producer

Todd Slater

Director of Photography

Antonio Riestra

based on true story holocaust (shoah) survivor troubled teen traumatized man repressed trauma age gap friendship

Status

Post Production

Countries

  • United States of America

Companies

  • Trafalgar Releasing
  • Convoke Media