Film-maker Pinchos Cylich believes his film, From Exile to FREEdom, fits perfectly into this year's theme. His documentary portrays Jews from the former Soviet Union and their journey to rediscover their Jewish roots in Australia with the help of local organisation Friends of Refugees from Eastern Europe (FREE).
"A whole generation grew up barely aware of their Jewishness [and] for many, their awareness came from antisemitism," Cylich explains. "When they came here, there was an opportunity to return to their roots and this is a story of many of those people [who] have gone through the whole journey back."
Cylich, along with his wife, Feygl, and film editor Eyal Avraham, used archival footage and personal testimonies from FREE's founder, Rabbi Chaim Elozor Gorelik, and other members of Melbourne's Russian Jewish community for their film.
"I feel that this was a story that deserved to be told," Cylich says. "Personally, I have many friends who have made that journey and I have the greatest respect for them ... I am very proud that we could bring this to the screen." |
