The Last Jews of Libya

Last updated
The Last Jews of Libya
Directed by Vivienne Roumani
Written byVivienne Roumani
Joseph Dorman
Produced by Aryeh Bourkoff
Narrated by Isabella Rossellini
CinematographyVivienne Roumani
Thomas Geyer
Edited byAmanda Zinoman
Music byMaurice Roumani

Daniel Roumani
Jonathon Roumani

Elia Roumani
Release date
  • 2 May 2007 (2007-05-02)
Running time
50 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Last Jews of Libya is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Vivienne Roumani.

Contents

Synopsis

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]

Production

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]

Release and reception

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]

Related Research Articles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Libya</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ondi Timoner</span> American film director

Ondi Doane Timoner is an American filmmaker and the founder and chief executive officer of Interloper Films, a production company located in Pasadena, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irene Taylor (filmmaker)</span> American director and producer (born 1970)

Irene Taylor is a film director and producer.

<i>The Forgotten Refugees</i> 2005 film

The Forgotten Refugees is a 2005 documentary film directed by Michael Grynszpan and produced by The David Project and IsraTV with Ralph Avi Goldwasser as executive producer, that recounts the history of Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa and their demise in the face of persecutions following the creation of the modern State of Israel in 1948.

<i>Amreeka</i> 2009 American film

Amreeka is a 2009 independent film written and directed by first-time director Cherien Dabis. It stars Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Joseph Ziegler, and Miriam Smith.

James Michael Spione is an American director, producer, writer and editor of both documentary and fiction films. Early on in his career, he developed a reputation for suspenseful dramatic shorts; his later career, however, has been marked by a new focus on short and feature-length documentaries for both theatrical release and public television broadcast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Grady</span> American documentary filmmaker

Rachel Grady is an American documentary filmmaker.

Pietra Brettkelly is a New Zealand filmmaker, known for her documentaries. She is a documentary filmmaker submitted three times for Oscar consideration, a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and was recently named an Arts Laureate of New Zealand. Her films have premiered in five of the world's top six film festivals – Sundance, Toronto, Venice, Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals – and have garnered many awards. She is known for her independent, risk-taking style, which has taken her to many different countries. She approaches her subjects' lives with a "quiet" demeanor and "non-judgmental" attitude, allowing her to capture and document real stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heidi Ewing</span> American documentary filmmaker

Heidi Ewing is an American documentary filmmaker and the co-director of Jesus Camp, The Boys of Baraka, 12th & Delaware, DETROPIA, Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, One of Us, Love Fraud (series), I Carry You With Me (narrative) and Endangered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Holocaust in Libya</span>

Conditions worsened for the Jews of Libya after the passage of Italy's Manifesto of Race in 1938. Following the German intervention in 1941, some Jews were sent to camps in continental Europe, where those who survived stayed until the end of World War II.

Aryeh B. Bourkoff is an American businessman and documentary producer. He is the founder and chief executive officer of LionTree LLC, a global investment and merchant banking firm focused on media, technology and telecommunications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danae Elon</span> Israeli filmmaker

Danae Elon is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer from Jerusalem. She is based in Montreal, Quebec.

Connie Field is an American film director known for her work in documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim A. Snyder</span> American filmmaker and producer

Kim A. Snyder is an American filmmaker and producer. Previously, she spent some time contributing to Variety.

Marina Zenovich is an American filmmaker known for her biographical documentaries. Her films include LANCE, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind, Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic and Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which won two Emmy awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice M. Roumani</span>

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.

Vivienne Roumani-Denn is an American oral historian and filmmaker. She created the first web site of the Jews of Libya and she is the director of critically acclaimed films The Last Jews of Libya and Out of Print.

In June 1967, an anti-Jewish pogrom took place in the Libyan city of Tripoli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giado concentration camp</span> Italian forced labor and concentration camp in Libya for Jews (1942–43)

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Last Jews of Libya" (PDF). Jewish Film. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  2. "The Last Jews of Libya". Tribeca Film Festival . Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  3. 1 2 "USA: Documentary recounts Jewish family's history in Libya before World War II in "The Last Jews in Libya."". Reuters . 9 May 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 Louria, Avital (14 May 2007). "The Last Jews of Libya (documentary)". Investment Dealers' Digest. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  5. ""The Last Jews of Libya" To Be Shown at the Library of Congress on Nov. 5". Library of Congress . 15 October 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2020.