Many in the audience at the Festival screening are Jews of Libyan descent, who murmur appreciatively at the Arabic and Italian expressions used by some of the interviewees and gasp as the horror of internment camps and Arab pogroms are recounted.
Despite the fact that the majority of the Roumani family ended up emigrating to America, at their request, Vivienne's parents, Elise and her husband Yosef, are both buried on the Mt of Olives. One of Vivienne's Libyan-born brothers remarks in the film that this was more than a mere gesture — his parents must have wanted to emphasize that Israel is the only place where a Jew can feel totally at home.
Almost the entire Roumani family is present at the screening as Aryeh, a thirty-something Manhattan investment banker, gets up at the end to explain why he produced the film. "I have three kids and I realized I wanted to tell them where we came from," he told the attentive audience. "This was a project celebrating family unity," he continued. The film is dedicated to his grandparents, Elise and Yosef Roumani, who emigrated to America in the 1960s to join two of their sons studying at American universities.
As we file out of the theater, a tall middle-aged man in front of me says to his friend: "Very nice, but why would they only come here to be buried, not to live??"
Article comments
1 - lingua franka
but, does the film have any contemporary images of libya? did anybody go there to see what's going on now, or is it all nostalgia and memoire? i want to know more!
i recently visited a synagogue in tunisia, and it was very interesting to see a jewish nook in a muslim country. even if all the jews are really gone in libya (which sounds a bit suspect to me, no offense meant), aren't there architectural reminders? vestiges? traces? this would be very interesting in a film about the jews who were in libya.
2 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
As we file out of the theater, a tall middle-aged man in front of me says to his friend: "Very nice, but why would they only come here to be buried, not to live??"
NU?
Like you, Judy, I came here to be buried here... But like you, I intend to do some living first. I won't be entering that final "apartment" for quite some time, G-d willing...
3 - sr
Ruvy. Like you said my friend G-d willing you will not enter that apartment for a long long time. My words folks. Cisco sends his best to you Ruvy and says adious amigo, hope to see you soon in Israel.
4 - Judy Lash balint
There weren't any contemporary images of Libyan Jewish life in this film. Since Kadaffi, there is literally not a vestige of Jewish presence there and Jews born in Libya are distinctly unwelcome there from what I gather...Tunisia and Morocco have quite different political leadership, of course, which explains the different status of jews there today..
5 - Professor Maurice Roumani
What the "tall middle-aged man" has said is not exactly correct. I left the US in 1972 to come and live in Israel where my children were born and raised, where I believed and I was proven right, that I could transmit my Sephardi/Libyan heritage to them much easier than anywhere else.
My father, Yosef, after my mother passed away he also came and lived in Natanya for five more years before he passed away.
My nephews have come here for a year and more. My sister has bought a house here and my brother has made aliyah few times and this time he has settled here permanently.
Besides, ninety eight per cent of the Roumani families have been living in Israel since 1949. So the gentleman was generalizing about other Jews but his comment cannot be applied to the Roumani families.
6 - Judy Lash balint
Thanks, Dr. Roumani. I appreciate your very important clarifications. The fellow I overheard on the way out clearly had the wrong impression.
I hope the film is aired on Israeli TV one of these days...
best, Judy in Jerusalem
7 - guillermo vasquez garcia
to g8 govermente agency and the united council of humand rights and council of arab s too pelsed iam family from puerto rico [Personal contact info deleted] thank you iam guillermo garcia vasquez pelsed thansk you guillermo eladio garcia vasquez