Canadian short story writer/novelist David Bezmozgis draws on his Russian Jewish background for inspiration. Born in Latvia when it was still part of the now-defunct Soviet Union, he arrived in Toronto with his parents when he was six years old, joining the growing Russian diaspora in Canada. Although Bezmozgis has forged his reputation on the […]
Lorene Scafaria’s feature film, The Meddler, is burdened with a misleading title. One might assume it’s about an unpleasant person who makes other people uneasy or miserable, but it’s actually about a guileless and needy widow with a sunny disposition whose chief ambition is to help her fellow human beings. Marnie (Susan Sarandon), still grieving […]
The Labor Party in Britain is mired in the muck of antisemitism, but it’s a self-inflicted wound. In the past few days, two of its members have been suspended for having brought the party into “disrepute.” Naseem Shah, an MP of Pakistani descent who represents the riding of Bradford West, stirred outrage following the disclosure […]
As usual, the Toronto Jewish Film Festival — which runs from May 5-15 — has a great lineup of movies this year. A sampler: Uri Barbash’s Kapo in Jerusalem (May 9 and 15) is shot through with moral ambiguities. Bruno Kaminski (Gil Frank), a Holocaust survivor in Israel, is accused of having committed reprehensible […]
Roman Vishniac (1897-1990) is remembered as the sharp-eyed observer who produced a priceless trove of some 15,000 photographs documenting Jewish life in Eastern and Central Europe before the Holocaust. Assigned to this prescient project by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, he poured body and soul into it. From 1935 to 1938, he travelled far and […]
When Paul Refsdal, a Norwegian journalist, visited Syria in 2014 and 2015, he embedded himself with Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda, the jihadist organization synonymous with Islamic extremism, death and destruction. Refsdal was canny enough to persuade two suicide bombers to submit to interviews. Both were waiting to blow themselves up. Their […]
Norman Lear is 93 now and can look back at an astonishing and perhaps unparallelled career in television. At one point in the 1970s, six of the 10 top shows on American TV networks had been developed by him. He was the king of the situation comedy. With hits like All in the Family, Maude, Good […]
How do sons come to terms with their fathers’ crimes? My Nazi Legacy, which will be broadcast on the PBS network on Monday, May 2 at 10 p.m. (check local listings), examines this difficult and morally-charged issue through the eyes of two men whose fathers were certified Nazi war criminals. Hans Frank was the governor […]
Erez Laufer’s biopic, Rabin In His Own Words, humanizes the late Israeli prime minister. Rabin, shy and reserved, invariably projected coolness and aloofness in public appearances. But in this film, scheduled to be screened at the Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto on May 2, May 3 and May 6, Rabin comes off as a […]
One of my favorite sections of The New York Times is the obituary page. I enjoy reading obits for two reasons. They’re about interesting people who’ve made an impact on our world, and they’re thoroughly researched and well written. A perfect combination in quality journalism. Vanessa Gould’s thoughtful film, Obit, which will be screened at the […]