The Last Jews of Libya | |
---|---|
Directed by | Vivienne Roumani |
Written by | Vivienne Roumani Joseph Dorman |
Produced by | Aryeh Bourkoff |
Narrated by | Isabella Rossellini |
Cinematography | Vivienne Roumani Thomas Geyer |
Edited by | Amanda Zinoman |
Music by | Maurice Roumani Daniel Roumani |
Release date |
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Running time | 50 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Last Jews of Libya is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Vivienne Roumani.
The film traces Jewish life in Libya as far back as the 3rd century B.C. It focuses on the Roumani family, residents of Benghazi for centuries, beginning during the Turkish Ottoman rule. The family is transformed by advances in European culture and through its relations with Arabs, though maintaining their unique religious practices. Much of the film deals with the last decades of the family's life in Libya. At the close of World War II, there were 36,000 Jews in Libya, though due to rising Arab nationalism almost all left in the next several years. Nowadays they have all left the country. The Last Jews in Libya is narrated by Isabella Rossellini and features archival film and photographs. [1] It raises questions of family, community, and identity. [2]
Director Vivienne Roumani was inspired by her eldest son Aryeh Bourkoff's request for something about the family history that he could show to his children some day. Even though she had never directed a film before, she decided to create a film. It was aided by the discovery of her mother Elise Roumani's memoirs. Vivienne Roumani travelled around the world to interview several generations of her family in English, Hebrew, Italian and Arabic in order to make the film. [3] She managed to film over 80 hours of material and collected 1,000 photographs, which needed to be condensed into a film. The Sundance Channel executive Larry Aidem, an acquaintance of Bourkoff, helped put him in contact with Amanda Zinoman, who edited the film. [4]
The Last Jews of Libya premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 2, 2007. [3] It was also screened at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, the Sao Paulo International Film Festival, and several Jewish film festivals. [1] The film was shown at the Library of Congress, followed by a discussion from the filmmaker. [5] The Sundance Channel purchased rights to the film to air it. [4]
The film received a positive reception. Star magazine wrote "Anyone who's ever wondered about their family history especially when that history involved fleeing from persecution will find The Last Jews of Libya fascinating and moving." [1] George Robinson of The Jewish Week wrote that "viewers are given concrete examples of the workings of history on individuals, and history has an appealing and entirely human face." [1] Judy Lash Balint of Blogcritics magazine called it "a moving documentary." [1]
In the 20th century, approximately 900,000 Jews migrated, fled, or were expelled from Muslim-majority countries throughout Africa and Asia. Primarily a consequence of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the mass movement mainly transpired from 1948 to the early 1970s, with one final exodus of Iranian Jews occurring shortly after the Islamic Revolution in 1979–1980. An estimated 650,000 (72%) of these Jews resettled in Israel.
The history of the Jews in Libya stretches back to the 3rd century BCE, when Cyrenaica was under Greek rule. The Jewish population of Libya, a part of the Sephardi-Maghrebi Jewish community, continued to populate the area continuously until modern times. During World War II, Libya's Jewish population was subjected to antisemitic laws by the Fascist Italian regime and deportations by both the Italian and German armies.
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Maurice M. Roumani, is a professor of Politics and International Relations, Religion and Society of the Middle East and the Founder of the J. R. Elyachar Center for Studies in Sephardi Heritage at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. He specializes in Ethnic Relations in Israel, Jews of Arab countries, the Middle East Conflict, and he is an expert on the History of Libyan Jews, Jewish-Muslim Relations and the impact of Holocaust policies in North Africa.
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The Giado concentration camp was a forced labor concentration camp for Italian and Libyan Jews in Giado, Libya, operating during the Second World War from May 1942 until its liberation by British troops in January 1943. The camp was established on the orders of Benito Mussolini, the Prime Minister of Italy. At the time, Libya was under Italian colonial control and was known as Italian Libya.