The following screenings of Happy Jews by Jonathan Rozenbaum
October 29th - The Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival, www.dokument-festival.cz
October 30th - The International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film - DOK Leipzig, www.dok-leipzig.de
November 8th - Sheffield International Documentary Festival - Doc/Fest,
www.sheffdocfest.com
January 21st and 27th - The New York Jewish Film Festiwal,
www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/nyjff2010
In January 2010 the film was also included as part of the Reel 13 Shorts on-line competition, www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/shorts/short-happy-jews/1659/

Festivals’ screenings of the film Happy Jews
Jonathan Rozenbaum’s „Happy Jews” has been included in the Polish Short Films competition of the 9.Era New Horizons festival in Wrocław. The screening will take place on the 25th July, at 13.00. Festival’s program is available at: www.enh.pl
Lago Film Fest in Italy is the next festival where the film will be presented. Festiwal will be held between 21 July – 1 August. More information about the festival at: www.lagofest.org

Happy Jews awarded
The film directed by Jonathan Rozenbaum was granted the award of the Jewish Community of Warsaw during the recently closed Jewish Motifs Film Festival. The award was received by Israel’s Ambassador, Zvi Rav-Ner, on behalf of the director.
More information about the festival at: www.jewishmotifs.org.pl

On 4 May at 7.00 pm The Family of Exiles directed by Grzegorz Brzozowski will be screened in Warsaw at ul. Mokotowska 55/50 at the seat of The Association of the Creative Initiatives “ę”. The screening will be part of the cycle titled “Documentary Films Cinema” [Kino Filmów Dokumentalnych] taking place at “ę” on the first Monday of every month. The filmmakers, Grzegorz Brzozowski and Magdalena Kowalczyk, will take part in the screening.
More information at: e.org.pl

Krakow Film Festival
Happy Jews directed by Jonathan Rozenbaum will be presented in the Panorama of Polish Film section of the 49th Krakow Film Festival.
The screening of Happy Jews will take place on 3 June at 8.15 pm in Kino pod Baranami, Sala Niebieska (Rynek Główny 27, Krakow)
The program of the 49th Krakow Film Festival is available at: www.kff.com.pl

Jewish Motifs
Happy Jews directed by Jonathan Rozenbaum has been included in the main competition of the 6th International Film Festival Jewish Motifs. The festival will take place in Warsaw on 28 April – 3 May 2009.
The film will be presented on 29 April at 3.40 pm and on 1 May at 6.35 pm.
More information at the festival website: www.jewishmotifs.org.pl

Krakow Film Market
The Family of Exiles directed by Grzegorz Brzozowski, Cabaret Polska directed by Nir Zats and Happy Jews directed by Jonathan Rozenbaum have been included in this year’s Krakow Film Market taking place on 31 May – 4 June 2009.
More information at: www.kff.com.pl/targi.php3

Exhibition in Gothenburg
On Saturday, 22 November, at 1 pm, the Emigranternas Hus (The House of the Emigrants) in Gothenburg hosted the opening of the exhibition “March 68. Farewells and Returns”. There were nearly 150 guests, among them Michał Czyż, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Sweden; Joerg Linder, Mayor of Gothenburg; Jarosław Jasiński, the Consul of the Republic of Poland in Malmö; Katarzyna Tubylewicz, Director of the Polish Institute in Stockholm; Piotr Kiszkiel, councillor of Gothenburg on behalf of the Liberal People's Party and Roger Bodin, Director of Emigranternas Hus. Among the guests there were also numerous representatives of Polish March emigrants, other emigrants, Swedish journalists, representatives of cultural and political institutions, as well as students. The participants of the documentary workshop were represented by Abigail Liebman and Grzegorz Brzozowski, as well as Poldek Sobel, one of the tutors, and Mateusz Werner, the curator of the exhibition. The author of the exhibition project is Malwina Antoniszczak. Together with the employees of Emigranternas Hus she arranged the big and challenging space of this institution in the record time of three days. We have been informed that the exhibition attracts several dozen people a day. On 26 November, Tobias Billström, the Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy visited the exhibition and was greatly impressed. We are very grateful to Piotr Kiszkiel, who helped us locate the exhibition in Emigranternas Hus and supervised its organization. Our main partner was the Polish Institute in Stockholm which contributed many ideas, apart from providing financial and organizational help. We also wish to thank Katarzyna Tubylewicz and Halina Goldfarb.

On Monday, 24 November, at 6 pm, the panel discussion titled “Anti-Semitism in Poland Then. Heated Discussion Today” was held in Emigranternas Hus. It was moderated by Mika Larsson, a well-known Swedish journalist. It was attended by Abigail Liebman and Grzegorz Brzozowski – participants in the documentary workshops, Mateusz Werner, curator of the exhibition, Jerzy Sarnecki and Henryk Rubinstein – March emigrants, and Adam Cwejman, a young activist of the Swedish Liberal People's Party, whose parents belong to the March emigration. The discussion attracted an audience of around 100 people. Mika Larsson began with a question addressed to Mateusz Werner about the title of the exhibition – who bade farewell to whom in 1968 and who returns to whom? Other questions to the participants of the documentary workshops followed. What happened in Poland in 1968? How did the communist authorities use anti-Semitic slogans and can the exile of thousands of people of Jewish origin be considered a “communist crime” in legal terms? Further questions regarded the possibility of overcoming the painful memory of the March events, as they are still an extremely sensitive issue in Polish-Jewish relations. The last problem addressed during the discussion was the possibility of using anti-Semitic arguments in future political disputes. All questions met with a strong response on the part of the audience among whom were: Piotr Fejgin, Włodzimierz Bursztyn and Poldek Sobel.

   


Presentation of Films in Lublin
During the 13th International Festival Theatre Confrontations, the screening of films produced as part of the "March 68. Farewells and Returns" workshop took place. Grzegorz Brzozowski, the director of the film "A Family of Exiles" was present at the event. This year's edition of the festival was devoted to Polish-Jewish relationships and was held in Lublin between 10 - 12 October.
For more info vist: www.konfrontacje.pl

Exhibition in Jaffa
The ceremonial opening of the exhibition "March 68. Farewells and Returns" took place on the 19th of May in Horace Richter Gallery.
Interest about the exhibition was beyond our dreams. More than 300 guests attended the opening, among them the representatives of the Polish Embassy and Polish Institute in Tel Aviv, the participans of "Reunion" in Ashkelon, which gathers the community of the March emmigrants from all over the world, and also lots of our friends and colleagues from Israel. Of course the workshops' participants were there: students and tutors. They presented all their works.
There was a lot of touching moments, guest were recognizing themselves in the old photographs and the past was there again. But there was also fun – the audience of the film "Happy Jews" by Jonathan Rozenbaum was laughing and everybody was greeting their old friends they have not seen for a long time
The students were finally happy that their two years lasting work can finally be shown to other peopple.
We would like to thank all people who made it possible.
Thank you: young participans of the workshops, who worked really hard for two long years.
I would like to thank the tutors of the workshops, specially Viola and Jozek Wein, who from the very beginning supported us with good advice and ideas. Poldek Sobel – our source of wisdom, who opened the whole community of "Plotkies" to us and Maciek Drygas, who was patiently consulting all works.

I also would like to thank Against Gravity for two years of cooperation.
Thanks! It was worthed.
Mateusz Werner

Works:
Grzegorz Brzozowski - film "The Family of Exiles"
Orly Buium - film "Don Quixote in Wonderland"
Karolina Famulska - an essay "Continuity is the Most Important Thing. On Sophia Braun Neé Lewinter"
Katarzyna Kulinska - an installation "Mementoes"
Abigail Liebman - an essay "Promised Lands. A Biography of Vera Lechtman"
Jonathan Rozenbaum - film "Happy Jews"
Adam Szumilak - radio report "Ex Libris"
Anna Traczynska - radio report "Journalists"
Nir Zats, Zuzanna Solakiewicz - film "Cabaret Polska"

Curator: Mateusz Werner
Artistic supervision: Maciej Drygas

Co-production of the works: Against Gravity - Artur Liebhart, Transfax Film Production - Marek Rozenbaum
Exhibition design: Malwina Antoniszczak in cooperation with Monika Bielak
Productions: Monika Derenda
Photography: Vita Drygas
PR: Joanna Pawluskiewicz, Eli Barbur
Special thanks to: Viola Wein, Yossi Wein, Poldek Sobel

Don Quichote in Wonderland in TVP Kultura
The documentary film by Orly Buium was screened in TVP Kultura on 19.03.08.
The movie is a story of Zeev Primor, the sculptor who comes to Poland and brings his latest work, made out of the hundreds of wooden pieces. The sculpture, together with its maker participates in a series of unfortunate events, starting from the attempts to put the sculpture in the Lodz’s shopping mall, right behind the automatic car for the kids.
The sculptor is accompanied by Eli Barbur, the march emigrant, who travels with Zeev through Poland.
The movie will be screend again in fall 2008.

3rd Workshops
The 3rd edition of the workshops took place in Warsaw at Warsaw University campus on 8-10 October. The meeting was devoted in its entirety to the discussion of the projects, their advancement and new developments. The classes were run by Mateusz Werner (AMI), Maciej Drygas, Józef Wein and Artur Liebhart (Against Gravity). Poldek Sobel, a representative of March 1968 emigrants was the guest of the event and he provided valuable insight into the participants’ projects. Viola Wein assisted the Israeli participants in preparation to the workshop.