Seekers of Happiness aka Birobidzhan, A Greater Promise
Public Exhibition Format: Beta |
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Synopsis
During the late 1920s, many impoverished Jews searching for a better life made their way to Birobidzhan, the Soviet Jewish Autonomous Region on the Chinese border. This melodrama tells the story of a Jewish family's immigration to Birobidzhan and their experiences as settlers on a collective farm in the area.
While the family encounters hardships in adjusting to this new way of life (including son-in-law Pinya's greedy, misguided search for gold) their search for assimilation is ultimately shown as positive. While the film is essentially a Soviet propaganda piece emphasizing the utopian dream of Birobidzhan as a socialist Jewish homeland, the reality of the area was harsh and inhospitable.
Selected Screenings
Filmhaus Nürnberg; Nuremberg, Germany (2009)
Toronto Jewish Film Festival (2004)
New York Jewish Film Festival (1999)
NCJF Film Restoration
Restoration was completed with funding from the friends and family of Barney Ash with additional support by Brandeis University, The Massachusetts Cultural Council, The National Endowment for the Arts & Gosfilmofond
Credits
Director Vladimir Korsh-Sablin
Screenplay Iogan Zeltser & Grigori Kobets
Camera B. Ryabov, V. Pokrovsky
Sound Engineer N. Kosarev
Music Issac Dunayevsky
Consultant S.M. Mikhoels
1996 Restoration © The National Center for Jewish Film
Executive Director Sharon Pucker Rivo
Associate Director Miriam Saul Krant
Technical Director Rich Pontius
Translator Robert Szulkin
On-line Editor Sylvia Fuks Fried
Title Production Tina Schonning
Film Transfer
Cinema Arts
Post Production CF Video
Cast
Venyamin Zuskin (Pinya)
Maria Blyumenthal-Tamarina (Dvoira)
L. Schmidt (Rosa)
L. Taits (Basya)
A. Karev (Natan)
S. Yarov (Korney)
B. Zhukovbsky (Korney's Father)
I. Byi-Brodsky (Shlyoma)
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