After the death of her father, the filmmaker met several generations of Arab Jews in Israel, fighting against discrimination. An intimate road-movie to address issues of exile and transmission.
What are Mizrahim?
Mizrahim is the name given by the Israelis to Jews from North Africa and the Middle East, victims, as soon as they arrive in the Promised Land, of a discriminatory system that makes them second-class citizens. In the 70s, a movement of revolt inspired by the Black Panthers in the United States, emerged to defend their rights. Faced with the mourning of his father, a former member of this movement, Michale Boganim goes to meet several generations of Mizrahim. In the form of a road movie, the film approaches the questions of exile and transmission through the intimate.
Analysis
The director, through the story of her father and others, gives a voice to those named Mizrahim. We discover through the prism of their life trajectories the history of Israel. The staging by the voice of the narrator of his father which intersperses with the testimonies allows the spectator to have a feeling of closeness and empathy towards them. The testimonies of newcomers who express their disenchantment and then their revolts to break the oppression of the time are eloquent. The descendants perpetuate their history by various means such as the duty of memory or by art: whether music or cinema. The director signs a road movie full of emotions, where life stories intertwine with the history of Israel. Mizrahim, the forgotten of the promised land arrives this Wednesday, June 8 at the cinema. https://youtu.be/hTfcTwy4RXQ