Film Series »Linguistic Landscapes«

The film series of the Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow centers on the linguistic diversity of Jewish life and Jewish culture. Language is a central vehicle for the expression of belonging, experience, and memory, but also serves as a marker for the loss of entire worlds. In the mid-twentieth century, violence, war, expulsion, and murder culminated among other things in the destruction of Jewish »linguistic landscapes.«

The diversity of Jewish languages persisted under completely different parameters after World War II and the Holocaust and developed anew. The films shown in this series therefore cover a broad chronological spectrum and emerged in different decades. They offer insights, for example, into the endurance of Ladino in Israel and the demise of the German language in Bukovina after World War II, and engage with the emergence of German and Russian as Jewish languages in Israel from the immediate postwar period through to the present day. The series thereby aims to disentangle a cultural wealth that was largely lost during the twentieth century.

Curated by Albert Wiederspiel, the former director of the Hamburg Filmfest, and Yfaat Weiss, the series of international feature films and documentaries also offers an opportunity for audiences to converse on this topic with filmmakers and other experts.

Program

Wednesday, 21 October, 6 p.m.
Welcome remarks: Anna Artwińska and Albert Wiederspiel

Herr Zwilling und Frau Zuckermann 
Documentary film, directed by Volker Koepp, Germany 1999, 126 min.

Follow-up talk with Nicolas Berg and Jörg Deventer
 

Wednesday, 4 November, 6 p.m.
»Nemt: A Language Without a People for a People Without a Language« – OmeU
Documentary film, directed by Michel Grosman and Izabelle Rozenbaumas, USA 2004, 91 min.)

Follow-up talk with Jurgita Verbickienė and Michel Grosman
Moderation: Jakob Stürmann

Montag, 16 November, 6 p.m.
»In Search of Ladino« – Hebrew and  Ladino with English Subtitles
Documentary film, directed by David Perlov, Israel 1981/2017, 49 min., Restoration Produced by: Perlov Family, Yad Vashem and the Israeli Film Service)

»Fragments« – OmeU
Documentary film, directed by Yonatan Haimovich, Israel 2009, 50 min.)
 

Wednesday, 2 December, 6 p.m.
»Chaja und Mimi« – OmdU
Documentary film, directed by Eric Esser, Germany 2009/2013, 10 min.)

Follow-up talk with Eric Esser

»Der Klang der Worte« – OmdU
Documentary film, directed by Gerhard Schick, Germany 2008, 70 min.)

Follow-up talk with Gerhard Schick;
Moderation: Thomas Sparr

Wednesday, 16 December, 6 p.m.
»Synonymes«
Feature Film, directed by Nadav Lapid, France/Isreal/Germany 2018, 124 min.)

Follow-up talk with Benjamin Freidenberg