The Story of a Family and a Landmark Photography Studio

Photo Farag (pronounced faraj), directed by Kobi Farag, is a fascinating documentary story about a family from Baghdad, who emigrated to Israel in the 1950s, and eventually became successful in their family business of wedding and events photography.  Their business name became Farag, named for the oldest brother, Farag Perry -- a man with a dream to bring color photography to Israel, who becomes an iconic photography studio pioneer in Tel Aviv. Farag was one of 10 brothers and sisters, who were the children of a poor immigrant family from Baghdad, who lived for 8 years in a transit camp in Petah Tikva.  

Farag was a charmer and a character, somewhat of a braggart and an exhibitionist.  While these qualities helped him become a successful businessman they did not endear him to his family.  As the oldest sibling, he brought all of his brothers into the business, which he thought was a great idea for both the business and the extended family. For a number of years, they all worked together in what became a thriving and glorious enterprise on Dizengoff St. at the corner of Arlozoroff, a landmark shop in the heart of Tel Aviv.  But when his brothers began to have some of their own ideas of how to run the business, this led to a tragic split in the family, which lasted decades.

The filmmaker, himself a nephew of Farag, uses photos and family films from the photography studio collection to bring to life a rags-to-riches success story of a family that did very well. At the same time, he tries to engage some of the family members in an attempt at family reconciliation. 

While the film was captivating, I was disappointed that it gave very little context about the amazing story of the mass immigration of Iraqi Jewry to Israel in the early 1950's. Nor did it give any background on the life of the family in Iraq, before they came to Israel. This would have made for a much richer and compelling film, rather than one that deals mainly with a family torn apart.

Photo Farag (documentary, 77 minutes) is available from Inosan Productions.  mosh@inosan.co.il

Farewell Baghdad

Recently I had a chance to see a new historical drama, which is currently playing in Israeli movie theaters --- Farewell Baghdad, directed by Nissim Dayan.  A literary adaptation, the film is based on the best-selling novel by Eli Amir (Israeli author born in 1937 Baghdad).  Filmed on locations in Israel -- mostly in Nazareth and Jaffa, also in Akko, Abu Ghosh, Beersheba and south Tel Aviv -- this film is a bit stilted (more like a TV drama), but it is a moving period piece, recreating life in 1950 Baghdad and providing us with a glimpse at a little-known slice of Jewish history. 

   

Kabi is a teenager, whose uncle has been imprisoned for his Zionist activities.   As Kabi works to get his uncle released, he slowly becomes engulfed in the intrigues of the members of the Jewish community who are working illegally and behind-the-scenes to get members of the community to go to Israel.  

This is the story of a community which was forced to leave everything behind and come to Israel.  The Iraqi Jewish community was fully integrated into Iraqi life, but after the establishment of the State of Israel, an ambivalent relationship began in which they considered themselves Iraqi but suddenly their place in Iraq was no longer accepted.   Many of the Jews had property, some had high connections in the government.  Nevertheless, eventually the government decided to free itself of the Jews and approximately 130,000 Jews were forced to leave for Israel during the years 1950-51. 

Ahuva Keren  (a well-know Israeli actress of Iraqi origin) was the primary mover in getting Eli Amir -- the famous Israeli author who wrote the book on which the film is based and who himself comes from Baghdad -- to agree to the adaptation of the book.  She trained the actors in speaking their lines in authentic Jewish Iraqi.  In fact, most of the film speaks the Jewish Iraqi dialect (as differentiated from the standard Iraqi Arabic). 

 In an interview on Telecinema, Israel TV Channel 1 (April 12, 2014), Keren declared that she was proud to have had a hand in the creation of this literary adaptation because "so much of my culture was distorted by bourekas films."  ("Bourekas" films refers to a genre of popular escapist films, both comedies and melodramas, made mostly during the 1970s and 1980s, which dealt with ethnic stereotypes and which had little artistic sophistication.) 

An alternative title for Farewell Baghdad in Hebrew is מפריח יונים  which is The Dove Flyer.

 

The Jewish Community of Baghdad

Shadow in Baghdad is a compelling documentary film which tells the story of Linda Menuhin, an Israeli journalist who writes and reports in Arabic.  She grew up in Baghdad as part of the large and flourishing Jewish community there.  After the 1967 Six Day War, the situation of the Jewish community deteriorated and they lost all of their civil rights.  In the early 1970s, as a result of the strong arm tactics of Saddam Hussein's secret police, most of the community fled.  Linda ended up in Israel and her mother and siblings followed.  Her father, an experienced lawyer who didn't understand the dangers lurking in the shadows, remained behind.  There was an exchange of letters, and then, on Erev Yom Kippur in 1972, he was abducted and never heard from again. 

Like a detective story, this documentary film slowly uncovers details about the father's fate.  Linda is assisted in her search by a journalist in Iraq who has offered to help.  Together, they slowly unravel the family story through old letters which are examined, and family friends who are interviewed. 

Linda talks about her pride in being an Iraqi and her longing for the life that they had back in Baghdad -- the thriving community, the university atmosphere and the beautiful Arabic language. The director, Duki Dror, who himself is a descendant of Iraqi parents who were forced to flee Baghdad and rebuild their lives in Israel, says, "My parents' longing for their past life in Iraq was always strong."  This is a moving film about personal memory, about yearning for the place where you were born, about  being forced to flee your homeland and rebuild with a new identity, and it is the story of Iraqi Jewry in the contemporary period.  

  

The documentary film, Shadow in Baghdad (documentary, 65 minutes), is available from Go2Films.