''The Last Jews of Libya'' is a

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by

Vivienne Roumani Vivienne Roumani-Denn is an American oral historian and filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initia ...

Synopsis

The film traces Jewish life in Libya as far back as the 3rd century B.C. It focuses on the Roumani family, residents of

Benghazi Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...

for centuries, beginning during the Turkish Ottoman rule. The family is transformed by advances in European culture and through its relations with Arabs, though maintaining their unique religious practices. Much of the film deals with the last decades of the family's life in Libya. At the close of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, there were 36,000 Jews in Libya, though due to rising Arab nationalism almost all left in the next several years. Nowadays they have all left the country. ''The Last Jews in Libya'' is narrated by

Isabella Rossellini Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (; born 18 June 1952) is an Italian actress and model. The daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted for her successful tenure as a Lancôme ...

and features archival film and photographs. It raises questions of family, community, and identity.

Production

Director

was inspired by her eldest son Aryeh Bourkoff's request for something about the family history that he could show to his children some day. Even though she had never directed a film before, she decided to create a film. It was aided by the discovery of her mother Elise Roumani's memoirs. Vivienne Roumani travelled around the world to interview several generations of her family in English, Hebrew, Italian and Arabic in order to make the film. She managed to film over 80 hours of material and collected 1,000 photographs, which needed to be condensed into a film. The Sundance Channel executive Larry Aidem, an acquaintance of Bourkoff, helped put him in contact with Amanda Zinoman, who edited the film.

Release and reception

''The Last Jews of Libya'' premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

on May 2, 2007. It was also screened at the

Jerusalem International Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival (, ) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Israeli Film Archive, Lia Van Leer, and has since become the main Israeli ...

, the

Sao Paulo International Film Festival SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

, and several Jewish film festivals. The film was shown at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, followed by a discussion from the filmmaker. The Sundance Channel purchased rights to the film to air it. The film received a positive reception. '' Star magazine'' wrote "Anyone who's ever wondered about their family history especially when that history involved fleeing from persecution will find The Last Jews of Libya fascinating and moving." George Robinson of ''

The Jewish Week ''New York Jewish Week'' (formerly ''The Jewish Week'') is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. History In March 2016, ''The Jewish Week'' announced its partners ...

'' wrote that "viewers are given concrete examples of the workings of history on individuals, and history has an appealing and entirely human face." Judy Lash Balint of ''

Blogcritics Blogcritics is a blog network and online magazine of news and opinion. The site was founded in 2002 by Eric Olsen (writer), Eric Olsen and Phillip Winn. Blogcritics features more than 100 original articles every week, and maintains an archive of a ...

'' magazine called it "a moving documentary."

References

External links

The Last Jews of Libya
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Jews Of Libya 2007 documentary films 2007 films Jewish Libyan history 2000s English-language films