Ashkenaz (2007)
1hr 12min Documentary
Hebrew, English and Yiddish
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 kibbutz, old-fashioned irony with postmodern cynicism and pale girls with dark curls by bleached blonde 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.
CREW
Written & Directed by: Rachel Leah Jones
Producer: Osnat Trabelsi
Director of Photography: Philippe Bellaiche
Editors: Eyal Sivan and Morris Ben Mayor
Sound by: Tully Chen
Original Music by: Habiluim, Oy Division
Broadcasters: Channel 8 Noga communication
Supported by: The Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts - Cinema Project
World Sales: Philippa Kowarsky, Cinephil
Festivals
Boston Palestine Film Festival, USA, October, 2010
Olympia Film Festival, USA, November 2008
UK Jewish Film Festival, UK November 2008
International Documentary Film Festival, Turkey, November 2008
Krakow Jewish Culture Festival, Poland, July 2008
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, USA, July 2008
Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival, Israel, December 2007