16th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival - Tinghir-Jerusalem Tonight at 7 pm

The 16th New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival is going on right now! You can see the entire schedule including tonight's feature - Tinghir-Jerusalem, Echoes from the Mellah - here. If you're in New York, you should definitely check out.

Jewish Women in Tinghir, 1958, photo by Elias Harrus, from Juif Parmi Les Berbères

Juif Parmi Les Berbères: Photographies d'Elias
Harrus, edited by Sarah Harel Hoshen, Paris: Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du
Judaïsme; Tel-Aviv: Beth Htefutsoth, Musée de la Diaspora, 1999

Tuesday, March 20th at 7 pm
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011 TINGHIR-JERUSALEM, ECHOES FROM THE MELLAH: The Rediscovery of a Judeo-Berber Culture
Director: Kamal Hachkar

Kamal Hachkar grew up in France with the idea that all Berbers were Muslims. From his grandparents he learns that some Berbers were Jewish and that in many villages, Muslims and Jews lived together for a long time. His search leads him to Israel where he meets families originally from Tinghir. Elders spoke of their lives in Tinghir, answering many of his questions. On meeting Jews of his generation, with origins in Tinghir, Kamal realizes that he is not alone in his desire to restore this buried part of their identities. He hopes that his generation will be able to acknowledge the bonds broken by history.

France/Morocco/Israel 2011, 52mins. French, Berber, Arabic and Hebrew w/English subtitles.

Here is a moving 5 minute clip from the documentary (in French):