Video: Death Metal Grandma

Inge Ginsberg is a case in point on how to live life, reinvent oneself and do all of that with a bang.

The 96-year-old is a Holocaust survivor who has had an array of roles across the world ranging from spy to journalist, but she says her main talent is “surviving.”

However, in this documentary by filmmaker Leah Galant, she shows that the human spirit needs much more for survival—it needs to be happy and to be heard, especially in a society where aging is not easy.

And Inge does that through her poetry, imbued with messages of death and destruction—and resonant of heavy metal. Thus began her current career as a death metal singer (in both German and English) and her journey to perform in talent competitions to reach a global audience. 

Yet, what Inge ultimately does is teach us that a life is best lived by serving your authentic voice. 

I am alive.

I don’t have to do special things to prove that I am alive.

My concept of heaven and hell is that in the moment of death you realize your life was full and good—that’s heaven.

And if you think, “Oh, I should have done this or that,” I think that’s hell.