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How was perestroika affecting Jewish
communities in Poland, Hungary and former Czechoslovakia, just as
the Berlin Wall was tumbling down? With his violin in hand, Yale
travels and speaks with Jews and non-Jews about what it means to be
a Jew in a "new" Eastern Europe.
Why this film?
"After having traveled throughout Central and
Eastern Europe searching out remnant Jewish communities in the
1980's, I knew this film had to be made. Most Jews especially in
America thought there was little to no Jewish life (due to the
Holocaust and Stalinist years), but I knew differently. And as
perestroika was spreading throughout the East Bloc, Jewish life was
changing. I decided to document this specific period 1988-89. One of
the major questions I wondered about was would the volume of
anti-Semitism be less or more in these fledgling democracies?"
-Yale Strom
(This film is available on 16mm & video from
Yale Strom at Yitztyco@aol.com.) |