Sephardic Film Fest: Double feature

1913: Seeds of Conflict and Arab & Jew Return to the Promised Land are this month’s films in the 10th Annual Sephardic Winter Film Series presented by Congregation Ahavath Achim, in cooperation with the Sephardic Cultural Center of Oregon. The festival presents a compilation of film screenings with Sephardic content, to be shown on the first Tuesday of each month, beginning November 2016 through April 2017.  Film screenings are FREE to the public, (a modest voluntary donation is suggested but not required).  After each film is screened, a discussion period will follow with a prominent local personality to lead the discussion.  A Sephardic dessert and tea will be provided during the discussion period.

December 6, 2016 (DOUBLE FEATURE)

1913: Seeds of Conflict.  Explore an overlooked moment in pre-WWI Palestine when Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities intermingled with a cultural fluidity enjoyed freely by all, and few could contemplate the conflict that would engulf the region for the next century.  The film examines divergent social forces growing in Palestine before the outbreak of World War I, that caused the simultaneous rise in Jewish and Arab nationalism.  Diverse perspectives dramatize this production and leave the viewer with a fresh look at complicated circumstances.

English language, 60 minutes, Produced by Ben Loeterman and shown on PBS

(SECOND FEATURE)

Arab & Jew Return to the Promised Land.  The grinding struggle that has caused such suffering by Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs is pictured in searing human terms.  Written and narrated by Pulitzer-Prize winner David K Shipler, this program taps the powerful yearnings of two peoples.   Combining new material with interviews, this program is a journey through the psychological landscape where Arabs and Jews meet with emotions, attitudes, and religion.

English language, 60 minutes, Produced by David Shipler, and shown on PBS

Discussion following the films

Remaining films:

January 3, 2017.

Among The Righteous.  Lost stories from Arab Lands. Did Arabs save Jews during the Holocaust? Seeking a hopeful response to the plague of Holocaust denial in the Arab world, Robert Satloff, head of a respected Washington think tank, sets out in the wake of 9/11, on an eight-year journey to find an Arab hero whose story would change the way Arabs and Jews view their history.  Along the way, Satloff found not only the Arab heroes for whom he sought, but a vast history of what actually happened to the half-million Jews of Arab lands in North Africa under Vichy, Fascist, and Nazi control.

English language, Produced by William Cran, 60 minutes, Shown on PBS, Speaker: Rabbi Kaplan

This feature film will be accompanied with a second short documentary, for your viewing pleasure.

February 7, 2017.  The Long Way Home.  This Academy Award-winning documentary examines the critical post-World War II period from 1945 – 1948, and the plight of the tens of thousands of refugees who survived the Nazi Holocaust but whom most of the world left to fend for themselves.  Their clandestine attempts to get to the Jewish homeland led to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.  Narrated by Morgan Freeman and featuring the voices of Edward Asner, Sean Astin, Martin Landau, Miriam Margolyes, David Paymer and Nina Slemaszko.  Two Thumbs Up from Siskel and Ebert.

English language, 120 minutes, Produced by Rabbi Marvin Hier, Discussion following the film

March 7, 2017.  The Truce.  A biographical documentary about Italian chemist turned author Primo Levi, who was interned at Auschwitz during WWII.  Following his release, he returned to his native Turin.  This movie depicts his hellish nine month journey from the camp back to his home.  He goes through many different countries, and along the way he meets and is befriended by assorted fellow travelers. Through them, his appreciation of life and freedom slowly returns, but with it also comes a deep rage and an abiding guilt at having survived.

English language, 118 minutes, 1997, Director Francesco Rosi, Discussion speaker: Ivonne Saed

April 4, 2017.  The Ballad of the Weeping Spring.  Musical instruments take the place of guns and an Iranian symphony takes the place of a gun fight in this clever, emotional homage to The Magnificent Seven.  In this drama, a dying man’s last wish sends his oldest friend, Tawila, on a grand adventure to find the best symphony players around for a final performance of “The Ballad of Weeping Spring.”  But will a guilty secret undo all of Tawila’s hard work?  Winner of 4 Israeli Academy Awards, plus 5 nominations including Best Film, and winner Best Music at Jerusalem Film Festival.

Hebrew with subtitles, 105 minutes, 2012, Film by Benny Toraty, Discussion speaker: Charles Levy

Films shown FIRST Tuesday of each month at 7PM.  Admission & Sephardic dessert are FREE.

Sponsors: Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, National Council of Synagogue Youth (NCSY),

Albert J. & Esther Menashe, Richard & Judi Matza, Charles & Jo Levy, Ron & Pam Sidis, Renee Ferrera,

Eve Stern & Les Gutfreund, Michael Menashe

For information call David 503-892-6634 or jewishfilmportland.org