Film About South Americans Trying to Reclaim Their Faith -- Against All Odds -- to Screen at San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) June 22, 2007 -- The Longing, a documentary about a group of South Americans longing to affirm their Jewish faith, will screen at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival July 20, August 4 and August 5. The film, which has been screened in the US and Canada, is available for educational purchase/rent and home video from Filmakers Library.

The group's ancestors -- European Jews -- were forced to convert during the Spanish Inquisition. Isolated in Catholic countries, rejected by local Jewish communities, they battle to become Jews regardless of the consequences.

"This is a fascinating and moving film, one that deftly explores not only the great questions of Jewish history, but also the current realities of community, technology and religion." -- Marilyn Lerner, The Jewish Week.

Set in Ecuador, the film tells the story of these South American's attempt to regain their birthright. The group includes three women who travel 36 hours, one-way, by bus, from Colombia and a couple from a small Ecuadorian town. On the Internet, they have found an American rabbi committed to helping "lost Jews" reclaim their identities. He meets them in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where he has difficulty getting the local Jewish community's support in facilitating their conversions. Ultimately, he convinces several local Jews to participate. The film provides a rare glimpse into the conversion process, including the ritual mikva (submersion) and Beit Din (rabbinical court).

Lost no more, the new converts' dreams are fulfilled. Yet they face an uncertain future.

The film premiered in January 2007 at the New York Jewish Film Festival, a collaboration between the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Jewish Museum. It has been seen at film festivals and screenings in the US and Canada, including the Los Angeles, Toronto and Vancouver Jewish Film Festivals and Cine las Americas in Austin, TX. It also will be screening at the Jewish Eye International Film Festival in Israel later this year.

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival will screen The Longing three times -- Monday, July 30th, 4:40 pm at the Aquarius Theatre in Palo Alto, Saturday, August 4th at 4:45 pm at the Roda Theatre (Berkeley Rep Theatre) in Berkeley and Sunday, August 5th at 4:45 pm at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.

The film was produced/directed by award-winning filmmaker, Gabriela Böhm. She also produced and directed Passages -- a personal film about the her search into her family's history in an attempt to pass on its legacy to her unborn son. The documentary won Best Documentary at the Woodstock and Tambay Film Festivals. She produced, directed, wrote and edited her first film, Voice-less, which screened at film festivals throughout the U.S. She also produced The Wild Side, a short documentary on the war on drugs in Brazil. A native of Argentina, Böhm studied film, photography, painting, sculpture and art history in Israel before coming to the United States. Böhm graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Film and Television. She is a US citizen.

The film's trailer can be viewed at www.bohmproductions.com.

The Longing: The Forgotten Jews of South America is available for educational rental and purchase, as well as for home video purchase at Filmakers Library, www.filmakers.com.

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