Ashkenaz

A film by Rachel Leah Jones

Synopsis

Ashkenazim-Jews of European origin-are Israel's "white folks." Like most white folks in a multicultural society, they don't think of themselves in racial or ethnic terms because by now, "aren't we all Israeli?" Yiddish has been replaced with Hebrew, religion with secularism, exile with occupation, the shtetl with the kibbbutz, old-fashioned irony with post-modern cynicism and pale girls with dark curls by bleached blonds with a suntan. But the paradox of whiteness in Israel is that Ashkenazim aren't exactly "white folks" historically.

A story that begins in the Rhineland and ends in the holy land (or is it the other way around?), ASHKENAZ looks at whiteness in Israel and wonders: How did the "Others" of Europe become the "Europe" of the others?

Festivals & Screenings

  • Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival, Israel, December 2007
  • Krakow Jewish Culture Festival, Poland, July 2008
  • San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, USA, July 2008
  • Olympia Film Festival, USA, November 2008
  • UK Jewish Film Festival, UK November 2008
  • International Documentary Film Festival, Turkey, November 2008

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Documentary 72 min, 2007 Israel, Netherlands

Writer & Director

Rachel Leah Jones

Cinematographer

Philippe Bellaiche

Editing

Eyal Sivan
Morris Ben Mayor

Sound

Tully Chen

Original Music

Habiluim, Oy Division

Languages

Hebrew, English, Yiddish

Subtitles

English

Broadcasters

Channel 8
Noga communication, Israel

Supported by

The Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts - Cinema Project.

World Sales

Philippa Kowarsky, Cinephil www.cinephil.co.il
 
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