‘Legacy’, a documentary which tells the story of the Jewish colonization in Argentina
On Wednesday, December 12, 2001 the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation officially presented, at the exhibition hall ”Palais de Glace”, the documentary film ”Legacy” about the Jewish colonization in Argentina. The presentation was offered within the exhibition ”Jewish Gauchos”, organized between November 30 and December 16 by the Tourism, Culture and Sports Ministry.
There was a ten-minute preview of the eighty that the films lasts in its complete version. It was directed by the filmmakers Vivian Imar and Marcelo Trotta, based upon an idea of Baruch Tenembaum.
The presentation, which was attended by more than two hundred people, was in charge of Dr. Isaac Waxemberg and Dr. Alberto Kaplan (photograph), both from Moisesville, province of Santa Fe. They told their life experiences, they described life in the colonies and answered questions from the audience.
How it was made and what ‘Legacy’ is
After six months of research the shooting began with state-of-the-art equipment. Lights, travelling dollies, cranes and all the necessary elements were transported to the different provinces in a specially equipped bus. The shooting team was formed by a group of distinguished movie and television professionals. About twenty hours of documentary material were shot with unique testimonies and unpublished images.
The filming was performed in different parts and among the places where the most important registries took place it is worth mentioning:
- Entre Ríos: Basavilbaso- Dominguez- Villa Clara- San Salvador
- Santa Fé: Moisesville- Las Palmeras- Palacios- Monigotes
- Buenos Aires: Carlos Casares- Médanos
Theaters such as ”Kadima” in Moisesville were reconditioned and given the right atmosphere for the shooting; countryside synagogues were reopened, Russian carts pulled by horses were put into motion and furniture and antique items belonging to the colonists were rescued.
The story begins at the end of the XIX century with the arrival of the first ships crowded with immigrants who, with the help of the Jewish Colonization Association, arrived to a strange land, without resources and with an unknown language. In the countryside they had to fight against plagues, droughts, frosts and flooding.
‘Legacy’ is a film of symbolic and historical value which transmits in each image the nostalgia, the drama, the hopes and the achievements of the colonizing epic deeds. A true tribute to the pioneers through the memories of its protagonists and descendants.
At the beginning of May, 1991, after a meeting with a group of former colonists and the passionate narration of their experiences, the idea of a rebirth in a full-length film of the Jewish Colonization in Argentina arises.