As part of its ongoing Sunday lecture series, the Van Cortlandt Jewish Center will be showing Bal Ej the Hidden Jews of Ethiopia.

There will be breakfast served at 9:30, sponsored by the VCJC Sisterhood. The film will be shown at 10:00 AM in the ballroom. A discussion of the film will follow the showing.

While there is no charge to view the movie or for breakfast, donations are appreciated.

About the film:

Following a hundred year old account of the prominent Jewish Polish scholar Jacque Faitlovich, the film-maker travels to discover and explore a sect of secret Jews in Ethiopia. Named Bal Ej, craftsmen, for their artisan skills, they have been persecuted by their Orthodox Christian neighbors who slandered them as evil-eyed and hyena-people and have been deprived of the basic rights such as ownership of land, the reason for adopting crafts such as pottery, weaving and iron smithery. Fearing persecutions, they appear Christians outwardly, and practice Judaism in strict secrecy. The synagogues are hidden deep in the mountains and had never before been visited by strangers. Some of their ancient traditions trace back to biblical times and have been completely forgotten by the rest of the world. The film “Bal Ej: the Hidden Jews of Ethiopia” lifts the curtains of hundreds of years and reveals the history, customs and culture of this remarkable community to the world. 

Release date: July, 2016; length: 96 minutes; languages: Amharic, Hebrew, English; subtitles: English or English/Russian

The film is the official selection of:

Washington Jewish Film Festival, Washington D.C., USA
Respect Human Rights Film Festival, Belfast, UK
Heritage Film Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria
The Jewish Film Festival of Greater Hartford, USA
The Festival of Jewish Culture, Krakow, Poland
Annual Sheba Film Festival, New York, USA
Mzansi Women’s Film Festival, Johannesburg, South Africa
The Red Bull Amaphiko Film Festival, Johannesburg, South Africa
Munich Jewish Film Festival, Germany
The Week of Jewish Culture, Hohenems, Austria
Days of Ethnographic Cinema, Moscow, Russia
Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival, Detroit, USA

About the director:

Born in Ukraine in a family of holocaust survivors from Poland and grown up in Russia, Irene Orleansky is an Israeli musician, producer, ethnographer and film maker.  Irene dedicated the last few years to exploring culture, music and traditions of remote Jewish communities in Asia and Africa.  Irene is a scholar in the field of Israel Studies.

Bal Ej: The Hidden Jews Of Ethiopia – The Official Trailer from Irene Orleansky on Vimeo.

The Official Trailer of the documentary film by Irene Orleansky “Bal Ej: The Hidden Jews Of Ethiopia”
www.ireneorleansky.com

Bal Ej the hidden Jews of Ethiopia – Trailer from Irene Orleansky on Vimeo.

Please plan to join us! Call the office at 718-884-6105 to let us know you plan to attend or email us at info@vcjewishcenter.org