A very little known story of the European Jews who arrived in Cuba during World War II is the basis of a documentary signed by Judy Kreith and Robin Truesdale, with which the hope that that spirit of hospitality \u201cremerges in today\u2019s world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film Cuba Forgotten Jewels, a Haven in Havana, concretely reconstructs the case of the displaced Jews who arrived to the island and carried out their trade of diamond polishers there.<\/p>\n
Judy, a dance teacher, and Robin, the film\u2019s producer, for almost a decade had been interested in the personal history of Marion Finkels Kreith, Judy\u2019s mother, who at the age of 14 escaped from Europe to Cuba, one of the few options there were for refugees at that time.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a child I heard some stories about my mother\u2019s childhood, but it was only a long time afterwards that I understood the complete story,\u201d Judy, who like Robin lives in Denver, Colorado, affirmed to EFE.<\/p>\n
When starting the process of researching for the documentary, not only did they encounter in Havana numerous stories similar to July\u2019s mother\u2019s but also that many had an advanced age and therefore a record had to be immediately made of those memories.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day I decided to make the documentary my life changed,\u201d confessed the ballerina, who embarked on the project with Robin, a compatriot \u201cwith no experiences on immigration\u201d and who would contribute the technical and cinematographic vision to the project.<\/p>\n
After taking off in 2010 with some first interviews mainly done in the United States, five years later she officially started the production of the documentary which is 45 minutes long and was premiered in 2017, after which it has started a pilgrimage through festivals like the recent Miami Jewish Film Festival and the Havana Festival last December.<\/p>\n
Robin underlines that since the beginning they decided to produce a documentary with a duration they considered \u201cappropriate\u201d and that was never thought of as a feature length, \u201calthough it wasn\u2019t for lack of material.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus is on personal stories. And these stories are encouraging and positive,\u201d Robin commented, after alluding to another of the premises: that the subject not stray toward political questions.<\/p>\n
As is reflected in the documentary, when she arrived in Havana, Marion and other young refugees started working in what in the early years of the 1930s was a new industry in Cuba: the diamond business.<\/p>\n
It had been created by experts in the polishing of jewels who has escaped to Cuba running away from Nazism and who, due to their international connections, were able to transfer to Havana the businesses they previously had in Europe. The maestros hired young refugees to teach them how to cut and polish the gems.<\/p>\n
But the documentary does not focus only on what happened between 1933 and 1944, years in which it is estimated that some 12,000 Jewish refugees arrived in Cuba, but also on the present.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe traumas and challenges of the past and the energy and positive attitude of the present are very relevant,\u201d noted Robin, regretting that at present immigrants are questioned in the United States and their talent and contributions are unknown.<\/p>\n
The film has recovered the value of those experiences, now seen based on a new perspective. The documentary, the directors say, has served to locate those stories in the current context and has brought about a dialogue.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents were refugees. My husband is foreign and this week he got his permanent residence in the United States. Now I understand what it is like to be an immigrant and a refugee. Now I understand what they felt. And despite their many years here, they still feel like strangers,\u201d Judy affirms.<\/p>\n
Despite avoiding political questions, past and present, the documentary has generated a bit of a controversy and Robin asks that his work be seen as \u201can educational work\u201d that shares stories of \u201ccompassion toward foreigners.\u201d<\/p>\n
The documentary has been translated into Spanish and Hebrew, and in the coming weeks will be presented in Minneapolis, New York, Denver, Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles, among other U.S. cities.<\/p>\n
The filmmakers also hope to present it in Latin American cities because of the subject\u2019s relevance for the Jewish communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe compassionate. One never knows what an immigrant or a refugee will contribute. If you shut your heart, you will never see it,\u201d Judy points out in conclusion.<\/p>\n
Francisco Miraval \/ EFE \/ OnCuba<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A very little known story of the European Jews who arrived in Cuba during World War II is the basis of a documentary signed by Judy Kreith and Robin Truesdale, with which the hope that that spirit of hospitality \u201cremerges in today\u2019s world.\u201d The film Cuba Forgotten Jewels, a Haven in Havana, concretely reconstructs the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2445,"featured_media":111008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[33669],"class_list":["post-116640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n