Trees Cry for Rain (1989)

Genre

documentary film

Country

United States

How it feels

A short documentary follows a woman as she investigates her Jewish-Turkish roots. The film explores the traditions of Sephardic culture and the Ladino language, which are gradually disappearing.

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What happens

Trees Cry for Rain: A Sephardic Journey is a short documentary film by American documentary filmmaker Bonnie Burt that follows "America's Internet Champion of Ladino" Rachel Amado Bortnick, as she explores her Jewish-Turkish heritage and the vanishing world of Sephardic culture and the Ladino language. The film was officially released in 1989, but drew public attention in 1992 with screenings at a number of Jewish film festivals worldwide, including the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and the Madrid "Festival de Cine Judio" which was dubbed "the biggest Jewish cultural event held in Spain in 500 years". This was followed by a public screening at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, and airing on The Jewish Channel. The film returned to the screen ten years later at the 2002 Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival. It was featured again in 2011 with a special screening at the 15th Annual Seattle Jewish Film Festival, 22 years after its debut. The film is used as an academic resource in Middle Eastern studies, Jewish studies and World History, at the collegiate and high school levels. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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