IN SEARCH OF THE BENE ISRAEL with Sadia Shepard April 20, 2009

L.A. debut of new film! Join Sadia Shepard, author of the acclaimed memoir The Girl from Foreign, for a discussion and screening of her documentary In Search of the Bene Israel. In the 1930s, Shepard’s Indian Jewish grandmother eloped with her Muslim grandfather. In Search of the Bene Israel chronicles Shepard’s journey to understand her grandmother’s history and the future of the fewer than 5,000 Bene Israel— a shrinking community of Jews that believes its ancestors were shipwrecked in India 2,000 years ago—who remain in India. This moving portrait of a community in transition introduces us to individuals and families—from a Jewish Indian filmmaker working in Bollywood to a couple on the eve of marriage—struggling with the decision to stay in India or move to Israel. A book and DVD signing will follow the program. (2008, 38 min.) Presented in association with the Jewish Genealogy Society of Los Angeles.

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