CARPATI: 50 MILES, 50 YEARS. This documentary film, made in 1994, focuses on Zev Godinger, a Jewish ice cream pushcart seller in the Carpathian Mountain city of Beregovo, a self-described "proster yid" (ordinary Jew). In 1931 the Jewish community of the Carpathian region (then in Czechoslovakia, Hungary during WWII, today Ukraine) numbered a quarter of a million Jews. And when this film was made, about sixty-five years later, there are fewer than 1,500. Zev lives in Beregovo, only 50 miles from Vinogradov, his birthplace. He had not returned since he was deported to Auschwitz in 1944. Now, Zev makes the journey home not only to revisit his childhood memories but to bring a Torah to his boyhood synagogue, which has not had a Torah for many years. Zev's experiences and unique insights are representative of the rich Jewish culture that once thrived in the Carpathian Mountains. A second theme of this film is the interrelationships and influences between Gypsy and Jewish music. Directed by Yale Strom. Produced by David Notowitz and Yale Strom. Cinematography by David Notowitz. Narrated by Leonard Nemoy. English narration and subtitles. Interviews and dialog primarily Yiddish, with some Hungarian, Ukrainian, and Russian. Released in May, 1996, on film. Released on video in 2000. VHS format: NTSC (US and Canada only) [Links: ] Carpati home page (by producer/cinematographer David Notowitz) |