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March 25, 2005
Jewish films are on their way
Festival documentaries depict both the best and the worst of humanity.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
The 17th annual Vancouver Jewish Film Festival (VJFF) brings an
enormous assortment of movies to town from around the world. Among
the fare are several documentaries, some that herald saintly and
inspirational human beings, others that feature more sinister and
disturbing ones. Here are a few docs that should peak your interest
in the festival that runs April 7-17.
Educating Catholics
"The Jews, as a nation, refused to accept Christ.... The worst
deed of the Jewish people was the murder of the Messiah." This
was a lesson taught to Sister Rose Thering by the Catholic Church
in Wisconsin, where she grew up. And she was not alone. Until 1965,
Jews as Christ-killers was a message of the Church and, even today,
there are Catholics who believe it – take Mel Gibson and his
"popular" film The Passion of the Christ, for example.
Unlike Gibson, however, Thering has spent her life fighting anti-Semitism
in the Church. In the fascinating documentary Sister Rose's Passion,
viewers learn of Thering's dedication to the cause since the late
1950s when, as a young nun in training, she began to research why
so few people responded during the Holocaust. Her doctorate comprised
an examination of Church educational materials for anti-Semitic
content, with her findings playing a part in Vatican II, which led
to many reforms in the Catholic Church in the 1960s, including not
blaming Jews for the death of Jesus Christ. Nowadays, Thering, professor
emerita of Seton Hall University in New Jersey, still takes time
to talk with groups of young people of all faiths about the horrors
that can result from intolerance and racism.
Archival film footage and interviews with various Christian scholars
and Jewish activists round out the film, which was nominated for
a 2005 Academy Award in the documentary short subject category.
Sister Rose's Passion is at Oakridge cinemas Friday, April
8, 2 p.m., and at the Norman Rothstein Theatre Tuesday, April 12,
9 p.m. It precedes Shalom Ireland at both screenings.
Jews held captive
How's this for a nightmare?: You immigrate to the United States,
under the advisement of people you believe to be honorable, pious
Jews. These men promise you that their community will take care
of you, your wife, your children and get you a job and an apartment.
Upon arrival, they "hold" your passports for you, set
you up in a house and have you work as a door-to-door fund-raiser
for the community (since you can't legally work in the country).
Then an accident occurs. Your young daughter is hurt and needs to
be hospitalized. It is thought that your wife may be to blame for
the incident, so the government takes away your children and parcels
them out to various families in the community. You can only visit
them, and then only under strict rules. Sadly, your daughter dies.
No one will tell you where her body is; no one will tell you where
the funeral is being held. With potential murder charges facing
your wife, you help her escape to Israel. As pressure mounts, you
join her. Even though, eventually, your wife is cleared of wrongdoing,
your kids are not returned to you. From Israel, you continue your
struggle to reunite your family.
Sound too outrageous to be true? Well, other than the accident,
it seems that this is the basic script for Yemenite Jews who leave
their native country for the ultra-Orthodox Satmar Chassidic sect
of New York.
The documentary In Satmar Custody focuses on Yahia and Lauza
Jaradi, who were lured by Satmar missionaries promising a warm welcome
in America, as well as work and education, then were forced to run
for their freedom. Another family is also interviewed briefly; their
story is similar to that of the Jaradis, with their six children
being confiscated by the authorities because the Satmar community
convinced the child welfare workers that the couple were poor parents.
In Satmar Custody plays at Oakridge cinemas Sunday, April
10, 3 p.m.
A poolside reunion
The Hakoah sports club in Austria was founded in 1909, in response
to the banning of Jewish athletes in Austrian sports clubs. Starting
with an improvised men's soccer team, the club became one of the
largest in the world, with more than 3,000 members, participating
in everything from soccer to fencing, wrestling and swimming. As
Adolf Hitler's hold on Europe increased, Hakoah members faced humilation,
intimidation and persecution, with the Nazis, following the Anschluss,
finally shutting the club down and seizing its facilities. All the
swimmers managed to escape the country thanks to an operation organized
by Hakoah's leaders.
Watermarks brings together members of the 1930s female swim
team that dominated competitions in its day. Now in their 80s, the
swimmers reminisce about their sports glory days, get to know each
other all over again and swim once more together in their old swimming
pool in Vienna. It is particularly touching as some of the women
relate their stories – about how they joined Hakoah and how
they dealt with the Nazi threat – to their granddaughters and
other family members. These women have led truly amazing lives.
Watermarks is being shown at Oakridge cinemas twice, on Sunday,
April 10, 7 p.m., and Monday, April 11, 4 p.m.
Film festival tickets can be purchased by phone at 604-488-4300
or online, www.vjff.org.
For more information on the films being presented, ticket prices
and the festival schedule, go online or call the VJFF hotline at
604-266-0245.
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