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Películas judío-latinoamericanas/Latin American Jewish Movies/Filmes judaicos da América Latina
O ano em que meus pais saíram de férias
Cao Hamberger Brasil 2008
Um marco do cinema brasileiro, O ano em que meus pais foram de férias conta a história de Mauro, de 12 anos, deixado para trás como seus pais ativistas políticos fugindo da repressiva ditadura brasileira. Agora tomado pela comunidade judaica de São Paulo, o Mauro amadurecerá em um cenário de medo e repressão política, por um lado, e da euforia do Brasil sobre sua participação na Copa do Mundo de 1970.
Gary Terracino
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A milestone of Brazilian cinema, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation tells the story of 12-year-old Mauro, left behind as his political activist parents flee the repressive Brazilian dictatorship. Now taken in by São Paulo’s tightly knit Jewish community, Mauro will come of age against a backdrop of fear and political repression on the one hand and Brazil’s euphoria over their participation in the 1970 World Cup.
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Un beso a esta tierra
Durante los años 20 y 30, muchos judíos dejaron la inestabilidad de Europa para comenzar una nueva vida a través del Atlántico en, entre otros lugares, México. Aunque la historia probaría que este es un juicio sabio, en muchos casos los recién llegados lucharon por asimilarse en una sociedad desconocida y nunca volverían a ver a sus seres queridos que se quedaron atrás.
Nick MacWilliam
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During the 1920s and 30s many Jewish people left the instability of Europe to begin a new life across the Atlantic in, among other places, Mexico. Even though history would prove this to be wise judgment, in many cases recent arrivals struggled to assimilate into an unfamiliar society and would never again see loved ones who stayed behind.
Jacobo is a man of few words, a joyless owner of a sock factory who is definitely in the camp of those who live to work not work to live. His faithful assistant, the middle-aged Marta, helps run the factory and keeps even his minimal living needs in order but when Jacobo’s brother plans to visit Jacobo asks Marta to help put his life not only in order but on display. A good sport Marta gamely agrees to play the part of his wife so Jacobo pretends he actually has a personal life for the sake of impressing his married brother. They play their parts extremely well, Marta the perfect Susie homemaker and Jacobo the average bored, bitter husband. But it isn’t until the two agree to travel on invitation from Jacobo’s brother to a faded resort the brothers visited as children that we learn some easy and some hard truths about life, responsibility, joy, and the legacy of Jewish immigrants in Uruguay and beyond.
El abrazo partido
Ariel, un joven argentino en una loca búsqueda de identidad y un sentido de pertenencia con su padre ausente nunca le dio. La familia judía de Ariel emigró de Europa del Este, Polonia para ser específica, y Ariel están tratando de obtener la ciudadanía polaca para una identidad como “europeo”. Ariel también está cuestionando su propia historia y paternidad para reconstruir la historia de su Padre que ha dejado la familia para que Israel luchara en la guerra de 1973.
Maria-Christina Villaseñor
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Ariel, a young Argentine on a nutty quest for identity and a sense of belonging that his absent father never gave him. Ariel’s Jewish family emigrated from Eastern Europe, Poland to be specific, and Ariel is suddenly trying to gain Polish citizenship to given himself an identity as a “European.” Ariel is also questioning his own history and paternity trying to piece together the story of his father who left the family for Israel to fight in the 1973 war.
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Morirse está en hebreo/Mexican Shiva
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This comedy centers on the seven-day Shiva ceremony celebrating the life of Moishe, a recently-departed fellow whose appetite for the good life outweighed his adherence to faith. Nevertheless, custom dictates that Shiva be observed in order to send Moishe on his way to the afterlife. As various dysfunctional family members and associates – among them an embittered daughter, a fugitive grandson gone orthodox, and the local rabbi – descend on Moishe’s apartment in Mexico City’s Jewish neighborhood under the pretext of paying their respects, a series of internecine feuds and brooding affairs come to the fore. It’s one of those where, although Moishe may be missed, he’s probably best off away from it all.
Nuestros Desaparecidos
The military dictatorship which governed Argentina from 1976-1983 was one of the most brutal in Latin American history. Over 30,000 people were disappeared by the authorities, while countless others were detained and tortured. Jewish filmmaker Juan Mandelbaum returns to his home country after thirty years living abroad to trace the legacy of military rule, while drawing parallels between the Argentine dictatorship and the holocaust. As with the Nazis, the military junta sought to erase the memory of its victims. Films like this act as a means of preserving that memory and as such play a role in overcoming the traumatic past. This story is partly personal, as Mandelbaum recalls a disappeared ex-girlfriend and others he knew, but the dictatorship is a tragedy that affects all Argentines, even those born following the restoration of democracy.
Cinco días sin Nora/Nora’s Will
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Esta comedia oscura mexicana Nora, una judía ortodoxa, que se suicida en la víspera de la Pascua. Su ateo, el ex esposo José (Fernando Luján) se queda para manejar el funeral, que incluye todas las costumbres y rituales judíos que hacen que la planificación de su entierro sea más de lo que José puede manejar.
Kiko Martinez
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This Mexican dark comedy directed by then first time director/writer Mariana Chenillo begins with its title character, Nora (Silvia Mariscal), an Orthodox Jew, committing suicide on the eve of Passover. Her atheist ex-husband José (Fernando Luján) is left to handle the funeral, which includes all the Jewish customs and rituals that make planning her burial more than José can manage.
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