This film will be presented by its director, Pedro Banchik. It reviews the Jewish history from the destruction of the Temple 2,000 years ago and the expulsion of Jews from Israel until the 19th century.

“From Bessarabia to Entre Ríos” is the title of the film that will be screened today at 10.00 p.m at the Parana Israeli Association, which will be attended by its director, Pedro Banchik, a native of Entre Ríos. This event, starting after the Kabalat Shabat, will take place in the same room– and is one of the events organized for the 95th anniversary of the Parana Israeli Association.

The film was declared a film of legislative and cultural interest by the Argentine Senate through a decree law signed by vice-president Daniel Scioli. In the next months, it will also be recognized as being of cultural interest by the Deputy Secretary of Entre Ríos.

The film is part of the Historical Archive of the Jerusalem Diaspora Museum and will be used as study material for courses and seminars for Spanish, Portuguese and English speakers. It is being dubbed into Hebrew so it may be screened as part of the daily program for visitors.

“From Bessarabia to Entre Ríos” is a film made by Pedro Banchik, a native of Villaguay. It shows a quick description of the Jewish history from the destruction of the Temple 2,000 years ago and the expulsion of Jews from Israel until the 19th century. The film focuses on the Russian empire governed by the Czars, the village life of the Jewish community at that time, the origin of the Yiddish language, klezmer music (Jewish music which is the foundation of folk music in Eastern Europe until these days), the “pogroms,” which involved outrages, housebreakings and mass killings of Jews. It also makes reference to other reasons for emigration and the situation in Argentina in said century, the arrival of immigrants, the immigrants’ hotel and finally, the Jewish settlement in Entre Ríos and its development.

The film describes Entre Ríos as it looks today and as it used to be 100 years ago.

It includes interviews of the children of the immigrants that arrived in Argentina, such as Banchik’s father, who passed away in September, 2006. It also includes an interview of the director of the Jewish museum of Villa Domínguez, the ambassador of Romania in Argentina, among others.

Regarding the soundtrack, it should be highlighted that there is a chorus, an orchestra and two lead singers.

When asked about the film, Pedro Banchik explains the reason that led him to make from Bessarabia to Entre Ríos:

“My father’s family, the Banchiks, celebrated on October 15, 2005 the 100th  anniversary of my great grandparent’s arrival in Argentina (26 March, 1905). For such reason, we gave a great all-day party in a country house located in the outskirts of the Capital city. It was an extraordinary and unforgettable event attended by 255 people from Argentina, U.S, Europe, Israel, Brazil and other locations. All of them are direct descendants of that marriage”, told Banchik.

And he goes on to say: “For this reunion, I made a documentary which was meant to last 5 to 10 minutes but turned out to be a 120-minute video, including the family story and other segments. The family enjoyed this video a lot (all of them were given a copy of it). However, after the party I forgot about it until I slowly started to receive comments from different people, this went on and on and that is how a year later I find myself presenting my film in a film festival hosted in Abasto Shopping Center in Buenos Aires”.