“Last night I had the privilege to watch the North American premiere of Refusenik, directed by Laura Bialis at the Seattle Jewish Film Festival. It was apropos for Seattle and the Jewish Film Festival to be the first to present this landmark documentary, since Senator Henry ‘Scoop’ Jackson hailed from Washington State, and was so instrumental in the fight to free Soviet Jews. This incredibly moving documentary points to the power of ideas, demonstrating how history can be changed when idealism, perseverance and perhaps a bit of naivete converge, creating the groundswell for what developed into an international movement.
There are lessons for us today as the Jewish commun ity engages in battles to safeguard the rights of Jews around the world, including ironically, those of our brothers and sisters in Israel. Thanks to Laura and all those involved in the creation of this wonderful film for helping show us the way forward.
Here’s to the incredible courage and indomitable spirit of all the Refuseniks!”
David Brumer, Seattle

photos courtesy StopTime photography

This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 8:34 pm and is filed under events and screenings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.