WATCHING WALTER
WATCHING WALTER
SBIFF 2026
Interview with Director: Mitch Yapko and producers Cynthia Gravinese-Brown and Mark Brown
WATCHING WALTER, directed by Mitch Yapko, written by Mark Dylan Brown, Executive Produced by Cynthia Gravinese-Brown, and starring beloved character actor Stephen Tobolowsky. In WATCHING WALTER, a customer drops off a pocket watch for repair, setting off a series of haunting memories for an elderly Holocaust survivor (Tobolowsky) in 1990’s Philadelphia. Inspired by a true story, both nostalgic and thought-provoking, the film has played dozens of festivals, and it has captured awards in many of them. This is a very moving and very poetic tale that will capture your soul and will put tears in your eyes. The trio of talented filmmaker has a bright future in front of them, and we wish them best of luck for turning this fantastic short into a feature.
Q: Tell me about your role in this short and why did you choose to make it?
Mitch: I am the director, producer of ‘Watching Walter’. I immediately fell in love with the story and Walter, when Cynthia and Mark came to me. My own grandfather escaped Poland in 1936 just as Hitler was coming to power. His immediate family got out but not all of his extended family. So, this felt like a personal story to me. My grandfather never spoke about Poland and the war. This film is a way to honor the memory of my grandfather and of Walter.
Cynthia: And I am the executive producer on our short.
Mark: I’m the writer and executive producer of our film. I used to live in Philadelphia as a kid, and I used to take my grandmother to see a watchmaker, and he turned out to be Walter. I found out that his family was slaughtered by the nazis, when he was 15. And he was kidnapped by the nazis. And he was forced to repair the stolen watches from the prisoners in the camp he was kept. He had to turn these watches into nazis gifts and watches. It’s an extraordinary story about survival and the human spirit. Towards the end of his life Walter wanted to have his story told. And I took upon myself to get as much information I could. I wanted to honor his wishes, and this is what we did with this short.
Q: What challenges did you face making this film?
Mitch: One of them was to do a multi time periods film with a very tight budget. Also, the film takes place in Philadelphia today and in Poland during World War II. But we filmed in Los Angeles in July! So, you can imagine how tricky this was and tough it was to find the right locations. We were lucky to find a multi-generational watchmaker shop in Pasadena. We had to remove items from to fit the time period of 1995. It’s also difficult to tell a compelling story in a short and with a tight budget.
Mark: Writing was difficult. It was a 9 pages script, but we turned it into a 17-minute film. I wanted to give Walter a PTSD moment. We can see his past, his present and his growth in a short amount of time. I wanted to let Mitch and the actor come with their own interpretation. They were very creative, and I think it came out very well.
Q: What his film truly about and its messages?
Cynthia: It’s mainly about survival and hope and determination. It’s about overcoming the odds. This short is actually a proof of concept for a feature we hope to put together. There is so much more to Walter’ story. We couldn’t portray everything in this 17-minite film. We learned about his wife and why they never had children. There is also so much about his life after the nazi camp. So, I hope we can do the feature next. We are talking to the Polish government and to a few investors so we are hopeful.
Mark: It’s a triumph story over tragedy. There were over 6 million deaths during the nazi era and to have this one life saved is truly a miracle. It’s an honor to tell this story. This is a movie for Walter and all the survivors from the nazis.
Q: Being at SBIFF, what does it represent and what were the expectations?
Mitch: For me, to be in festivals, create witnesses to Walter’ story. It creates witnesses to survivors’ stories. It creates a conversation, one festival after another. SBIFF was our 35th festival! So many people after our screenings come to us with their own stories about their mother or grandfather being a survivor from the nazis. This film speaks to all of the spirits from these people. Santa Barbara was amazing as our two screenings were so packed! You really felt the audience energy and them connecting to the story. It’s so gratifying as a filmmaker and as the grandson of a survivor.
By Emmanuel ITIER – pictures: Marianne Franco
