CULTURE
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The Zone of Interest ★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
There are a few monotone moments, strangely ethereal night scenes. A girl, the movie’s only active resister, leaves apples for the starving prisoners. In daylight, we glimpse the dropped fruit, indicating that this is not a fairy tale. Glazer based this sequence on the testimony of a real life former junior member of the Polish resistance, whom we know only…
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Welcome to Wales — Jewish Renaissance
“This project is designed to help others tell their stories in as positive and creative a way as possible,” says Howard, who is a descendant of Eastern European émigrés. “I started with telling my own story, but my aim is to make this installation universal. The stories can be shared among anyone who comes in to take part.” Interaction with…
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Urgent Voices: Hebrew Poets
As part of our ‘Urgent Voices’ series, in which key jewish cultural figures respond to the continuing crisis following the 7 October attacks, we hear from a handful of Hebrew poets In these difficult times, when war seems to erase all words, a group of contemporary Hebrew poets have found solace in poetry. The artform raises difficult questions that sometimes…
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Guys and Dolls ★★★★★
The all-immersive revival of the deservedly popular musical marches on, with a magical mix of new and established cast members As I wrote a year ago, when I first had the unforgettable experience of standing amongst fellow audience members, “‘Immersive’ and ‘moving’ are adjectives that one might use figuratively to describe a theatrical experience. I’m using them literally here.” For…
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The New Look ★★
Apple TV’s flashy fashion drama about legendary haute couture designers during World War II cuts a weak silhouette of a story Viewers are promised a lot in the first 15 minutes of The New Look. It’s 1955. We see glittering shots of twirling models bearing the ‘New Look’ line of the legendary Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) as the fashion maestro…
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Nachtland ★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
When Nicola seizes the opportunity call out Israel for its ongoing persecution of Palestinians, it is uncomfortably topical, especially as Judith challenges the antisemitism underlying her attitude. But, rather than carefully unpacking this complexity, the writer doesn’t know what to do with either side of the debate and leaves it hanging as a discarded thread – one of many in…
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Arte! Arte! Arte! — Jewish Renaissance
Early life Minujín’s grandfather Salvador was a military tailor whose Russian Jewish family arrived in Argentina in the 1890s. He was active in the Jewish community and was a founder member of Buenos Aires’ Paso Temple. Minujín still lives in her family home in the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires. She first realised she wanted to be an artist…
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Bernard Kops 1926-2024 — Jewish Renaissance
In 1957 his first play, The Hamlet of Stepney Green, was produced at the Oxford Playhouse, one of the key works of the ‘New Wave’ in British drama along with Look Back in Anger, The Wesker Trilogy and Pinter’s early plays. He once said in an interview, “We brought our backgrounds, our experiences and our traditions… An authenticity came and…
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Cable Street ★★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
The music is wonderfully eclectic, embracing a Jewish vibe as well as both Irish folk melody (hard to resist singing along to ‘The Rocky Road to Dublin’) and a terrific ongoing rap from Ginsberg’s Sammy. The versatile cast are accomplished singers too; Sophia Ragavelas’ Edie may depend on her son Ron, but her glorious singing voice belies her fragility. There…
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From Mumbai to Kerala: In Search of India's Jewish Story
JR’s subscriber trip to India last month was a delightful assault on the senses and sensibilities, says Monica Bohm-Duchen The flight from London to Mumbai, although long, went smoothly and by lunchtime on 16 January, Indian time, we were safely ensconced in the luxurious bubble of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. After the first of many truly delicious meals, a…
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