Past Events
Events List Navigation
The Jews of Africa
Many suspect that the 21st century will be Africa's century, but for many of us the African continent remains a fairly unknown place. Least known amongst its many unknown features is the emergence of new Jewish communities to join the long-standing ones that have been there for nearly two centuries. Clive Lawton will explore some of these communities, how they came into existence and the conundrums they throw up for the established Jewish community, not least, but not only, in…
Find out more »Charlotte
Based on an expansive collection of a thousand autobiographical paintings found after the war - considered by some to be the first graphic novel - this stunningly beautiful, animated film sheds light on the life and work of Berlin-born artist Charlotte Salomon. Restricted and haunted by antisemitic laws, the immensely gifted Salomon was forced to leave her beloved home country for southern France, where she continued to paint, using her art as a way of coping with her traumatic past…
Find out more »Finding my way through the woods: migration, family and food
What can food and family history teach us about issues of migration, gender and family? From the recipes and stories of one Sephardi family in Greece and Turkey in the late 19th and early 20th century, as well as a cooking demo and tasting, Michal takes us on a culinary family history involving messages about contemporary culinary cultures and society. Dr Michal Nahman is an anthropologist who has written about Israeli society, reproduction and medicine, and is now turning her…
Find out more »Minyan
Based on a David Bezmozgis short story, Minyan is an absorbing coming-of-age tale set in 1980s Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. The son of Russian immigrants, 17 year old David struggles under the weight of religious tradition, familial expectations and his own sexual identity. In order to secure a room for his grandfather in an old age home, David agrees to attend services, ensuring there will always be a minyan. This decision coincides with his first affair with a gay bartender. With…
Find out more »Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
USA 2023, 106 mins, English, Director Kelly Fremon Craig, featuring Rachel McAdams, Abby Ryder Fortson This coming-of-age comedy drama film, written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, is based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Judy Blume. Eleven year old Margaret Simon moves with her family from New York City to a New Jersey suburb. Upset about moving away from her friends and from Sylvia, her beloved paternal grandmother, Margaret begins to communicate with God about her concerns,…
Find out more »Once upon a time in Egypt – Memories of a bygone era
In this conversation with Lisa Lipman, Viviane will discuss her childhood in Egypt and her memories of growing up in a Jewish community which at the time numbered 80,000 . They all left or were expelled between 1948 and 1967. The 1930s to early 1950s are considered Egypt’s golden era, when Cairo was known as the Pearl of the Nile. Viviane will evoke a world which no longer exists and will talk about a Sephardi community with its unique customs…
Find out more »Three Minutes: A Lengthening
Netherlands/UK 2022, 69 mins, English, Polish, German, Yiddish; Director Bianca Stigter, narrated by Helen Bonham Carter Three Minutes: A Lengthening presents a home movie shot by David Kurtz in 1938 in a Jewish town in Poland and tries to postpone its ending. As long as we are watching, history is not over yet. The three minutes of footage, mostly in colour, are the only moving images left of the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk before the Holocaust. The existing three minutes…
Find out more »Shipman and King Cinemas: a celebration of Jewish enterprise and family
In this illustrated talk, Jenny King tells the remarkable story of her grandfather Sam King and his journey from an impoverished Jewish immigrant family to a cinema and property mogul. Together with his friend Alf Shipman, they fulfilled their dream of building a chain of magnificent Art Deco cinemas, starting in the First World War with a tiny cinema in the back of a Sussex pub. Through their foresight and dedication to the world of entertainment, Shipman and King Cinemas grew…
Find out more »Shadow of the Day
Italy 2022, 128 mins, Italian (with English subtitles); Director Giuseppe Piccione, featuring Riccardo Scarmarcio, Benedetta Porcaroli The film is set in 1938 Italy. Like the majority of his fellow Italians, decorated war veteran and restaurant manager Luciano is a staunch supporter of the country’s fascist regime. Shortly after the Italian racial laws are introduced, Anna, a young beautiful woman, turns up at the restaurant, desperately looking for work. When Anna’s closely kept secrets are finally revealed, Luciano, who has fallen in…
Find out more »Matchmaking
Israel 2022, 98 mins, Hebrew (with English subtitles); Director Erez Tadmor, featuring Amit Rahav, Liana Ayun On the face of it, young yeshiva butcher Moti and his little sister’s best friend Nehami are the perfect match – they share the same values, have known each other for years, and most importantly, they are in love. There is just one small problem: Moti is Ashkenazi and Nehami is Sephardi, and in the ultra-Orthodox city in which they live, such a match is…
Find out more »If you have an event relating to Jewish culture or relevant to DAVAR members that you would like us to publicise, please email us at info@davarbristol.co.uk.