Travel the world through film! The J’s St. Louis Jewish Film Festival showcases national and international cinema that explores universal issues through traditional Jewish values, opposing viewpoints and new perspectives. Documentaries, drama and short films are presented for two weeks, with introductions by filmmakers and experts on the issues the films bring forth. Jewish Films for young adults are also presented to the public in an effort to expand discussion and audiences for this age cohort.

From the cosmopolitan streets of pre-war Berlin to the shtetls in Poland and Lithuania to the Princeton offices of Albert Einstein, VISHNIAC takes viewers on a journey, through the lens of one of the foremost photographers of the 20th century. Roman Vishniac is best known for having traversed Eastern Europe from 1935 through 1938, on assignment for the American Joint Distribution Committee, to photograph Jewish life in Eastern Europe. The purpose of the photographs was to raise funds for impoverished Jewish communities. Few predicted that less than a decade later, these communities would be wiped out, and that Vishniac’s photographs would provide the last visual records of an entire world.

Director: Laura Bialis
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 90 minutes