Misha and the Wolves | Little White Lies

Misha and the Wolves

01 Sep 2021 / Released: 03 Sep 2021

Words by Hannah Strong

Directed by Sam Hobkinson

Starring Misha Defonseca

Back view of person standing in front of a wall covered in pinned photographs, papers, and artwork.
Back view of person standing in front of a wall covered in pinned photographs, papers, and artwork.
3

Anticipation.

Interesting premise but potential for lacklustre execution.

4

Enjoyment.

A compelling story, well-researched and sensitively told.

3

In Retrospect.

Not particularly memorable, but highly immersive in the moment.

A woman’s Holo­caust mem­oir becomes an inter­na­tion­al scan­dal in Sam Hobkinson’s com­pelling documentary.

In 1997, an extra­or­di­nary mem­oir was pub­lished detail­ing the expe­ri­ences of a Holo­caust sur­vivor who was raised by a pack of wolves. The book was a best-sell­er in France and Italy, and was even optioned by Dis­ney to be adapt­ed into a fea­ture. There was just one prob­lem: none of it was true.

It would be over 20 years before Misha Defon­se­ca (real name Monique de Wael) admit­ted her lie, but some had sus­pect­ed as much for years – includ­ing Jane Daniel, the pub­lish­er she had sued over the book’s dis­tri­b­u­tion and roy­al­ties. Sam Hobkinson’s doc­u­men­tary tracks the sto­ry across decades, delv­ing into the real­i­ty that de Wael obscured, and how she fab­ri­cat­ed a tale that cap­tured the imag­i­na­tion of read­ers around the world.

Inter­views form the major­i­ty of the film, chiefly with Daniel and Bel­gian geneal­o­gist Eve­lyne Haen­del, whose par­ents were killed in the Holo­caust. The pair turned ama­teur detec­tives to inves­ti­gate the dis­crep­an­cies in Misha’s sto­ry. Their per­sis­tence and metic­u­lous research is pre­sent­ed in fas­ci­nat­ing detail, while Hobkin­son imbues the film with a fairy tale-like qual­i­ty which mim­ics the fan­tas­ti­cal nature of its source material.

The phe­nom­e­non of writ­ers who fab­ri­cate events in order to sell books per­sists to this day but the truth is often stranger than fic­tion, and this tale of decep­tion is told with artis­tic con­fi­dence and explores not only what drove de Wael to lie, but why it was so easy for peo­ple to believe her.

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