The stories in two short documentaries screening together Friday at the Big Eddy Film Festival span very different histories — but both filmmakers say they are ultimately about human connection.

“Sala,” by filmmaker Eddie Marritz, follows a woman who survived Nazi slave labor camps and went on to build a life shaped by empathy and compassion. “Black LP,” by Trey Carlisle, follows Music in Common’s Black Legacy Project, which uses facilitated conversations and collaborative songwriting to explore racial history and build connections across communities.

Marritz said he was initially drawn to Sala’s story after learning that she volunteered to go to a labor camp in place of her older sister.

“She was one of 11 children. She was the youngest, and she knew her sister couldn’t do it,” Marritz said. “So, in a way, you know, it was sacrifice of love.”

He said connection became an important theme in telling her story — from her family to the friends she had growing up.

“I think it’s an overriding theme of our film is how connection gets you through the rough stuff,” he said.

Carlisle’s film documents the Black Legacy Project, launched by Music in Common in the aftermath of the 2020 killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The project brought conversations and collaborative songwriting to seven communities across the United States.

Carlisle said music provides a way for people to engage with difficult subjects while creating space for empathy.

“The same type of skills that folks have to practice when they engage in collaborative music making, like listening to one another, we’re working together towards a common goal, having respect towards another person,” he said. “Those are the same type of skills that are essential to actually build bridges and heal divisions between communities.”

For Carlisle, music also helped create a space where people could discuss painful chapters of history.

“Music kind of serves as this diffusing entity to help folks discuss these issues and have hope for what we can do to move forward,” he said.

Both filmmakers see that idea of connection as the link between their films.

“I just think that there’s a common humanity,” Marritz said.

Carlisle agreed, saying the films help “bring to light our shared humanity” and show how individuals can find a path forward in the face of difficult history.

The films will screen together Friday, Sept. 25, at 3 p.m. at the Tusten Theatre, followed by a filmmaker talkback.

The Big Eddy Film Festival is a financial supporter of Radio Catskill.