2017-11-14 | International News

An Afternoon of Mizrahi Culture: Food, Film & Conversation

Israeli-Iraqi Buffet Lunch & Film Screening of
The Dove Flyer: Farewell Baghdad

In honor of Israel’s official day to honor displaced Mizrahi Jewish communities from the Middle East and North Africa, JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, the Oshman Family JCC, and the Israeli Consulate of San Francisco are hosting a special afternoon of Mizrahi film, food and conversation. Join us Sunday, December 3rd for a buffet lunch of Israeli food, infused with Iraqi flair, by Dina’s Kosher Catering, and a film screening of The Dove Flyer: Farewell Baghdad. Israeli Consul General to the Pacific Northwest, Shlomi Kofman will open the film with remarks on Israel’s efforts to commeorate Jewish communities of the Arab world.

All proceeds will go to JIMENA’s Oral History Program, which is documenting the personal stories of former Jewish refugees from Arab countries. JIMENA’s Oral History collections are housed in perpetuity at Ben Gurion University in Israel.

COST
Lunch: 1:00PM $15 per person, RSVP Required by November 30th

Film and Remarks: 2:00PM FREE

Tickets and RSVP Required

ABOUT THE FILM
The Dove Flyer

Based on the autobiographical blockbuster novel by Eli Amir, this sweeping epic recalls a lost time when over 130,000 Jews lived in Iraq. We follow the teenage Kabi as he navigates the final years of the community’s existence in Iraq, before its expulsion and resettlement to 1950s Israel. When his uncle Hizkel is imprisoned, Kabi sets off to find him, joining the Zionist underground movement. Each member of Kabi’s circle has a different dream: his mother wants to return to the Muslim quarter where she felt safer; his father wants to emigrate to Israel; Salim, his headmaster, wants Arabs and Jews to be equal, and Abu just wants to care for his adored doves. The film beautifully illustrates the complex existence of the Jewish community in Iraq, which had strong ties to the surrounding Muslim world and Arabic culture, yet simultaneously feared for its safety.

Drama / 2014 / Israel / Judeo-Arabic with English subtitles / PG-13
108 minutes / Director: Nissim Dayan