Chari Pere is an award-winning Orthodox Jewish cartoonist, writer, and filmmaker whose work delves into deeply personal and often taboo experiences. Through her “Unspoken” Cartoonmentary series, she explores miscarriage, pregnancy loss, reproductive grief, and the complexities of medical decision-making—always through a human and Jewish lens. Turning her own trauma, including a painful miscarriage, into purpose, Pere uses humor and animation to give voice to life’s most difficult moments.
Her short film, ‘Determination’ will debut on October 16 with a special screening at the SOHO Film Festival. The short is based on the true story of Abbie Sophia, a photographer who dreamed of having twin girls but faced devastating complications in her pregnancy.
The idea to create cartoons on difficult matters that aren’t much talked about, came to her after she suffered a miscarriage in 2014.
“I couldn’t find any resource that would help me feel like I was less alone,” she said. “There were a few articles about people’s experiences, but I just wanted to know what to expect. Can I get pregnant right away, for example? I needed to hear from other people’s experiences,” she said.
A few years earlier, she created a three-page social action comic about an Aguna—a woman who managed to escape an abusive marriage after ten years of struggle. The project revealed to her the power of cartoons as a tool for education and emotional support.
“I released the comic in 2017 and it went viral. Every year after that, I’ve released a new topic. I remember telling my husband, men don’t speak at all about miscarriages. An hour later, I received an email from someone who said, you should do a comic about a miscarriage from my husband’s perspective, because my husband had no outlet for his pain.”
That email led to her second story in the series, Michael’s Miscarriage. Later came a story about IVF abortion, determination and “The Diagnosis.”
The latest short is based on the true story of Dani Weiss Bronstein.
“I was pregnant with my rainbow baby, after my miscarriage and my friend was sharing her story online. It was a little cryptic about something going on with her baby, and it turned out eventually that her baby had Down syndrome. She was very open about it, and I was in awe of how strong she was.”
Pere asked Bronstein if she would like to collaborate and share her experience, and her friend readily agreed. “The Diagnosis” was originally slated for release in October, to coincide with Down Syndrome Awareness Month, but was later postponed to March. Within Orthodox communities, many families raise children with Down syndrome, as abortion is not an option they consider—making it a delicate and rarely discussed subject. Early support for the project has already come from actress and advocate Mayim Bialik, who will voice the main character, underscoring the impact of Pere’s work in fostering compassionate and nuanced dialogue around these deeply personal issues.
Pere explained that while she had previously volunteered with organizations supporting the Down syndrome community, she had never truly understood the experience from a parent’s perspective. She expressed deep gratitude to Bronstein for her openness in sharing her story.
“I’ve always been very open about myself, and I find that if something bad happens to me, it’s for a reason, and I need to share my experiences with others,” said Pere. “I found it to be very healing. You can never really take away the physical elements of anything, because that’s part of your DNA now, but the emotional trauma—it certainly helped ease the pain because I felt like something good came out of something really difficult.”
Pere and her husband, Eli Schiff, first met in the Catskills and were friends for years before getting married.
“He moved to L.A. to pursue his acting career, and then I went out there a couple of years later for the National Cartoonists Society that I belong to, and we kind of reconnected.”
The couple spent 11 years living in Los Angeles, in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood. During that time, Pere worked at an ad agency, while Schiff built a successful career in voice acting. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and Pere lost her job, the family decided it was time to return to New York. Schiff went on to win several awards for his voice work, and their three children, now ages 6 to 12, have also joined him as voice actors, contributing their talents to several major films.
“Each of my kids had roles in different videos, but I try to shield them from the more graphic parts,” said Pere. “When “The Diagnosis” is finished, I’ll let them watch the whole thing because there’s nothing too graphic there. They enjoy being part of it and know that it helps people. They’re still at the stage where they think it’s cool to have a mom involved in comics and animation, and parents who both do voice work. They’ve already lent their voices to big movies and animated TV shows, so it’s also nice for them to see us create something from scratch and produce it ourselves.”
Most recently the entire family lent their voices to characters in King David animated movie which is coming out next year.
Pere’s work had been very gratifying, especially when people from all around the world reach out, after watching her shorts on YouTube. They often send her emails and tell her how watching her cartoons or reading her comics, had helped them.
“One time I was invited to speak at an event in the UK, and a woman came straight to me and said, ‘I cannot wait to speak to you because your comic came out the week that I had a miscarriage, and it really helped me through a time I really needed it.’”
She often releases her comics on meaningful dates. The first was published on Mother’s Day, and because October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, she plans to release “Determination” on October 16.
“Miscarriages happen all the time, every day,” she said. “We have these designated months to mourn and talk about these things, but the reality is that grief doesn’t fit neatly into a calendar. I try to remind people that no matter what you’re going through—whether it’s 2 a.m. or 1 p.m.—there’s always a resource here for you, to help you feel less alone.”
