Bambi (Documentary)
About the Director
Jessica Benhamou is a London-based director whose stories dare into the unknown.
Her latest film, Alchemy of the Word, about damned poets Rimbaud and Verlaine, premiered at Cinequest. Love is a Hand Grenade screened at BFI Flare, Show Me Shorts, Bolton and Roving Eye. She has made several Jewish and Holocaust-related projects, including Sadeh (UK Jewish Film Festival, Iris Prize, AmDocs, Cinequest), Wedded to Murder (an immersive Jewish murder mystery), The Kahena: Berber Queen (Bush Theatre), and Samovar (as producer), a poetic imagining of war hero Raoul Wallenberg’s later life.
With a background in investigative journalism, Jessica is directing a documentary feature, The Ridge, in funded development with Submarine Entertainment, and has also directed an episode of cybercrime series hacker:hunter. She is in post-production on a documentary about Jane Austen. A deep passion for world literature and Jewish history continues to shape her work.
Synopsis
Most believe Bambi is a Disney original. In fact, it’s based on Felix Salten’s 1923 novel — a haunting allegory of persecution, banned by Nazis and stripped of its Jewish roots in Disney’s 1942 animation. This presenter-led documentary blends expert interviews, readings, and evocative vignettes to uncover Bambi’s terrifying, true origins. Set in Vienna and its surrounding woods, it reclaims Salten’s urgent warning, at a time of antisemitism, fascism, and historical erasure.
Director’s Statement
Bambi was the first horror I ever watched, shortly followed by The Shining at nine, sparking a lifelong love of scary films. When I came across the disturbing, little-known origin story of the world’s most famous deer, I knew I had to share it.
Felix Salten’s 1923 novel is a haunting allegory of persecution and survival. It’s chilling to realise the Disney classic was released during the Holocaust, in 1942, stripped of its Jewish roots. Salten fled Vienna, dying in exile in 1945 – a man of no nation.
This presenter-led documentary will uncover this secret history, transporting audiences to Vienna and its surrounding woods. It will blend expert interviews, readings from the novel, and poetic horror vignettes with real deer — where the forest is as beautiful as it is deadly, much like Salten’s Vienna.
Bambi has the power to captivate and surprise global audiences, excavating a hidden Holocaust narrative and restoring an important Jewish writer’s voice. This makes the Claims Conference’s Emerging Filmmaker Contest the ideal partner for its creation.