Behind the Headlines Documentary on Jewish Culturists in the Soviet Union is in the Works

A unique, first-of-its-kind documentary film on the struggle for Soviet Jewish culture and the urgent need to assist the Jewish “tarbutniks” (culturists) in the USSR, is to be completed soon according to the producers of the film.

The two young California producers of the project, Sherman Rosenfeld, 29, of Berkeley, and Elliot Fain, 33, of Oakland, introduced a pre-edited version of the film several days ago to a group of representatives of Jewish organizations concerned with Soviet Jewry and members of the press at the offices of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture in Manhattan.

According to the producers, the need for such a documentary is underscored by the fact that central to the problem of Jewish emigration from the USSR is the state of Jewish education within the country. They said that many Soviet Jews believe that without a West-supported campaign to develop Jewish culture in the Soviet Union, the Jewish community there will die out.

The idea for the documentary came from Rosenfeld who visited the USSR in September October, 1976 and met the organizers of the Moscow Symposium for Jewish Culture which was scheduled for last December but never ran its full course because it was suppressed by the Soviet authorities. Upon returning to Berkeley, Rosenfeld helped organize a vigil in front of the San Francisco Soviet Consul’s home and a parallel conference to support the Moscow Symposium. Both events were filmed by Fain and his crew and will be part of the documentary.

FOCUS OF THE FILM OUTLINED

The film will focus on the struggle for Jewish culture in the USSR through interviews with Soviet Jews and American Jewish scholars and photo-montages of Soviet posters and cartoons, newspaper clippings and other historical material. It will also include scenes of life of Soviet Jews in the USSR and scenes of Soviet Jews living in Israel and the United States. A special segment of the film will include interviews with Soviet Jewish leaders already in Israel.

Rosenfeld and Fain said that they made the half-hour documentary for Jewish and non-Jewish audiences alike. Disclosing that the budget of the film is about $ 8500 and that more than a third of this amount had been spent by the film group, the producers said they will not be able to proceed without financial support to provide the balance. They said they are looking for individuals or groups to “invest time and/or money in the project.” They added they plan to return to the USSR to interview leaders of Jewish culture and to gather additional historical material.