Bal Ej: the hidden Jews of Ethiopia
The upcoming screenings
July 31 at 6 pm at Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington, NY, USA with Q&A
November 24 at Oak park Temple, Oak Park, IL, USA with Q&A
November 24 at Oak park Temple, Oak Park, IL, USA with Q&A
About the movie
Though it has been formally announced that with the last emigration of Falash Mura, there are no more Jews left in Ethiopia, there are still a number Jews living in Addis Ababa and the North Shewa region of Ethiopia, most of whom practice pre-Talmudic form of Judaism secretly. They split from the Beta Israel who settled in Northern regions of Ethiopia since Biblical times and even had the only independent Jewish Kingdom in the world. The migration of the Beta Israel from the area of Gondar to North Shewa was gradual with its pick in the 19th century. Beta Israel began their migration from North Shewa region to Kechene village in the northern part of today's Adddis Ababa when Emperor Menelik II decided to move his palace from Ankober to Entoto and later to Addis Abbaba. Named Bal Ej, which means craftsmen, for for their skills in crafts, the community members played an important role in building the capital of Ethiopia Addis Ababa. Bal Ej of North Shewa and Kechene were forced to convert into Christianity. For centuries they have been persecuted by their Orthodox Christian neighbors who slandered them as buda or evil-eyed and hyena-people and have been deprived of the basic rights such as ownership of land, the reason for adopting crafts such as pottery, weaving and iron smithery. The stigma and discrimination persist till nowadays. Though they appeared Christians outwardly, inwardly they never abandoned Judaism and continued practicing Judaism secretly. Only recently, the youths of the community opened a synagogue in Kechene neighborhood of Addis Ababa where they hold their services openly; the rest of the synagogues are not visited by strangers and their location and practices are kept in strict secret. Because of persecutions, out of 40, only 15 cryptic synagogues have survived till today. In spite of the fears of murder and persecutions, Beta Israel of North Shewa keep faithful to their beliefs and ancient Hebrew traditions, some of which have been completely forgotten by the rest of the Jewish world.
In her movie "Bal Ej: the Hidden Jews of Ethiopia", Irene is lifting the curtains of hundreds of years and reveal the history, traditions and music of this remarkable community to the world.
In her movie "Bal Ej: the Hidden Jews of Ethiopia", Irene is lifting the curtains of hundreds of years and reveal the history, traditions and music of this remarkable community to the world.
Irene does not have any sponsors or funds, so if you would like to help Irene in promoting the film, please donate:
To screen the film "Bal Ej: the Hidden Jews of Ethiopia" at your town or community center, please mailto:ireneorleansky@gmail.com
The crew
Irene Orleansky (Israel): script, camera, editing, soundtrack, narrative
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Kirill Malahov (Russia): sound-engineering
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Hannah Nemer (USA): camera
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On the field
The women behind the camera
Past Screenings
2017
February 12 at 1 pm The Jewish Museum of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA
March 4 at 5 pm at St Mary's Hall 1, Respect Belfast Human Rights Festival, Belfast, UK
April 2 at 2:30 pm Sydney Jewish Museum, Sydney, Australia
May 2 at 1:00 pm Israel Week Festival of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, West Hartford, CT, USA
May 9 at 7:30 pm Merrick Jewish Center, Merrick, NY, USA
May 11 at 7:30 pm Temple Sholom, Brooklyn, NY, USA
May 14 at 7:30 pm Hillcrest Jewish Center, Flushing, NY, USA
May 16 at 7 pm Old York Road Temple Beth-Am, Abington, PA, USA
May 17 at 7:30 pm Sheba Film Festival, Tsion Cafe, New York, NY, USA
May 18 at 6:15 pm Washington Jewish Film Festival, E Street Cinema, Washington, D.C., USA
May 21 at 11:30 am Washington Jewish Film Festival, AFI Silver Theatre, Silver Spring, MD, USA
May 21 at 4:30 pm Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, Fairfax, VA, USA
May 23 at 7 pm Prosserman JCC, Toronto, ON, Canada
May 24 at 7:30 pm The Museum of Jewish Montreal, Montreal, QC
May 25 St. John's, NL, Canada
June 29 at 6 pm Galicia Jewish Museum, Jewish Culture Festival, Krakow, Poland
July 4 at 11 am at Chalom Jewish Community Center, Kiev, Ukraine
July 11 Alte Synagogue, Essen, Germany
July 13 Jewish Museum Hohenems, Austria
August 4-August 6 Mzansi Women's Film Festival, Johannesburg, South Africa
September 3 at 4:30 pm Galicia Jewish Museum, The European Day of Jewish Culture, Krakow, Poland
October 6 - October 13 Heritage Days Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria
December 2 at 7 pm Katzrin Cultural Center, Katzrin, Israel
2018
January 14 at 2 pm at Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, MA, USA
February 15 at 7 pm Kulturzentrum der Isralitischen Kultusgemeinde, Munich, Germany
February 22 at 7 pm at Agudas Achim Synagogue of Iowa City and Coralville, Iowa, USA
March 22 at 7:30 pm Beit Oleh America Netanya AACI, Israel (Q&A with the film maker)
May 22 at 6 pm at Robinson Film Center, Shreveport, LA, USA (with Q&A with the film maker)
May 26 at 12:30 pm at Tifereth Israel Synagogue, Des Moines, IA, USA
June 21 at 7 pm at Borochov Cultural Center, Toronto, Canada (with Q&A with the film maker/a fundraising event for the secret synagogues of Ethiopia organized by Kulanu Canada)
September 27 at 12 pm at Days of Ethnographic Cimena Festival in Moscow, Russia
2019
January 27 Brmingham Hebrew Congregation, Birmingham, UK
February 21 Mandel JCC, Cleveland, OH, USA
April 6 at 6 pm at Temple Beth Shalom, San Juan, Puerto Rico with Q&A
April 12 at 2 pm Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism, Houston, TX, USA with Q&A
May 14 Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival, Detroit, MI, USA
June 1 at 8 pm at Mishkan Torah Synagogue, Greenbelt, MD, USA
July 31 at 6 pm at Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington, NY, USA with Q&A
November 24 at Oak park Temple, Oak Park, IL, USA with Q&A