Double Feature: New Homes (Novos Lares) and The Fire Within February 8, 2011

New Homes (Novos Lares) tells the story of Nilopólis, a once-thriving Jewish neighborhood near Rio de Janeiro founded by Eastern European Jews at the end of World War I. When several of its former residents return for a visit, they fondly recall their lives in the close-knit community and reflect upon the experience of Jews throughout Brazil. (Brazil, 2009, 56 min. No MPAA rating. In Portuguese with English subtitles.)

In the late nineteenth century, among the adventurers who came to the Amazon rainforest following the great rubber boom were Jewish men from Morocco. Some settled in the isolated town of Iquitos, Peru, where they married indigenous women, raised families, and blended Jewish tradition with indigenous Amazonian customs. The Fire Within investigates this once virtually unknown Jewish community and how well-meaning rabbis and scholars became involved in encouraging a more normative Jewish tradition. (Peru/USA, 2008, 60 min. No MPAA rating. In English and Spanish with English subtitles.)

Part of the Documentos film series at the Skirball Cultural Center.

Official Website: http://www.skirball.org