In a tropical paradise turned dystopian by the Drug War, struggling Colombian parents Isska and Menajem reinvent themselves as Orthodox Jews. During a year in which reality and a religious parable collide, they risk everything in an attempt at immigrating to Israel, putting their family and faith to the ultimate test.
Young, charismatic parents Isska and Menajem, along with their daughters Ruth and Jaia, are the model family of Beit David, their community of Orthodox Jewish converts in Cali, Colombia.
Despite the fact that Israel won’t recognize their conversions, Isska and Menajem are willing to do whatever it takes to be accepted as “real Jews”.In the midst of Cali’s most violent year in a decade, Isskaand Menajem feel that it's now or never to leave Colombia and find more stability for their daughters.
Because Latin American Orthodox converts are often turned away by Israeli border patrol, the family concocts a plan for getting through: disguising themselves as Christian tourists visiting for Easter.With nerves stretched to a breaking point, the family embarks on a trip to the Promised Land that will put their faith to the ultimate test andchange their lives forever.Torah Tropical tells the universal story of searching for identity and belonging in the face of adversity. Through Isska and Menajem’s struggle to give their daughters a better life, the consequences of economic, racial and religious exclusion are explored with poetic intimacy, invitingaudiences to fall in love with a family that defies stereotypes and inspires us to find hope in the middle of the world’s cruelest intersections. There will be a Q and A following the film with producer Heidi Pastor.
Directed by Jimmy Ferguson, Ezra Axelrod, Gloria Nancy Monsalve
Produced by ThisTopia (David Restrepo, Ezra Axelrod) and Heidi Paster
TUESDAY MARCH 4TH AT 7PM : AIN'T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND
AIN'T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND is the untold story of the first organized interracial civil rights protest in U.S history. When 5 Howard University students sat on a Maryland carousel in 1960, the arrests made headlines. When the white community near Glen Echo Amusement Park joined the Black students in picketing, an extraordinary history-making partnership was born. The pickets attracted Nazis, Congressman, and a press avalanche. Picketing together over the sweltering summer led to partying together, and union organizers mentored student activists. Ten 1961 Freedom Riders, including Stokely Carmichael, were incubated on the Glen Echo picket line, and the carousel arrests were challenged in the Supreme Court case.
With never-before seen footage, and immersive storytelling by Emmy-award winning director Ilana Trachtman (Praying with Lior, Black in Latin America, The Pursuit), four living protesters rescue this forgotten history, revealing the price, and the power, of heeding the impulse to activism. AIN'T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND includes voiceover by noted actors Jeffrey Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Bob Balaban, Lee Grant, Peter Gallagher, Dominique Thorne, Alysia Reiner and Tracie Thoms.
“It is heart-breaking, infuriating, and inspiring. ‘Most of the people who make history are invisible,’ we are told. Thankfully, documentaries like these make them not just visible but unforgettable." - RogerEbert.com
"stirring ... enraging ... Inspiring". - Baltimore Magazine
Best Documentary, DC Black Film Festival 2024
Audience Award, Boston Film Festival 2024
