In 2003, Howard Reich wrote a newspaper article documenting his mother’s struggles with late-onset post-traumatic stress disorder. Several years later, the long-time Jazz critic for the Chicago Tribune turned that column into the book – The First and Final Nightmare of Sonia Reich: A Son’s Memoir. Now that book has become a film. In Prisoner of Her Past Reich travels from the eastern European town where his mother miraculously escaped the Nazis, to New Orleans, Louisiana where children who lived through Hurricane Katrina are experiencing similar post-traumatic disorders.

Back in 2006, Howard Reich spoke to Richard Steele about the book. Reich began by talking about how his mother’s disorder first became obvious. A special screening of Prisoner of Her Past will take place this Sunday to mark “Yom HaShoah” or Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Screening:
Prisoner of Her Past
April 9 through 15
Gene Siskel Film Center