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Catalog  New Release Refusenik |
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Refusenik
USA, 2008 | Documentary, 117 min, |
Director:
Laura Bialis
Script: Laura Bialis
Producers: Laura Bialis and Stephanie Seldin Howard
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| Synopsis |
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| REFUSENIK is the first retrospective film to chronicle the thirty-year international movement to free Soviet Jews. What started as a small grassroots movement bold enough to take on a Cold War superpower blossomed into an international human rights crusade that engaged the disempowered and world leaders alike. Told through the eyes of activists on both sides of the Iron Curtain - many of whom survived punishment in Soviet Gulag labor camps - the film isa tapestry of first-person accounts of heroism, sacrifice, and ultimately, liberation. |
Awards and Festivals |
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Awards:
Audience Favorite Award for best documentary at the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival |
Festivals:
Pittsburgh Jewish Film Festival 2009
Rutgers New Jersey Jewish Film Festival 2009
Hartford Jewish Film Festival 2009
Calgary Jewish Film Festival 2009
UK Jewish Film Festival 2009
Miami Jewish Federation 2009
Cleveland Jewish Film Festival 2009
Sao Paulo Jewish Film Festival 2009
Sonoma County Jewish Film Festival 2009
Detroit Jewish Film Festival 2009
Buffalo Jewish Film Festival 2009
Berkshire Jewish Film Festival 2009
Miniapolis Jewish Film Festival 2009
University of Maryland 2009
San Antonio Jewish Film Festival 2009
Greater Altoona Jewish Federation 2009
Contra Costa International Jewish 2009
Touro College Jacob D Fuchsberg Law Center 2009
Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival 2009
Contra Costa Jewish Film Festival 2009
Vancouver mini Jewish Film Festival 2009
San Diego Jewish Film Festival 2009
Miami Jewish Film Festival 2009
Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival 2009
Tucson Jewish Film Festival 2009
Wilmington Delaware JCC 2009
Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival 2009
International Meeting of Cinema and History Istanbul 2008
Lincoln Square Synagogue 2008
Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival 2008
Clearview Theatre 2008
Soho Synagogue 2008
Calgary Jewish Film Festival 2008
Hong Kong Jewish Festival 2008
Manhattan JCC 2008
Edmond J. Safra Synagogue 2008
Chabad of Calabasas 2008
Jewish Arts and Film Festival of Fairfield County 2008
New Jersey Film Festival 2008
Omaha Jewish Film Festival 2008
Proctor`s Theatre 2008
Annual International Jewish Film Festival of Dallas 2008
Lake Worth Playhouse, 2008
the Theatre N at Nemours 2008
Avalon Theatre 2008
Landmark E Street Cinema 2008
ATLANTA UA Tara 2008
ST. LOUIS Plaza Frontenac Cinema 2008
PHILADELPHIA Landmark Ritz Five 2008
CHICAGO Landmark Renaissance Place Cinema 2008
PITTSBURGH
Opened June 20, 2008 at the CineMagic Manor Theatre
PALM DESERT
Opened June 13, 2008 at the Cinemas Palm D`Or
BROOKLYN
Opened June 13, 2008 at the Kent Theatre
BOSTON
Opened May 30, 2008 at the Landmark Embassy Cinema Opened May 30, 2008 at the Landmark Kendall Square Cinema
SANTA BARBARA
Opened May 23, 2008 at the Plaza De Oro Theatre
LOS ANGELES
Opened June 7, 2008 at the Laemmle Monica 4-plex Opened May 30, 2008 at the Laemmle Fallbrook7
Opened May 23, 2008 at the Laemmle Music Hall 2
Opened May 23, 2008 at the Laemmle Town Center 5
NEW YORK
Opened May 9, 2008 at the Quad Cinema
SARASOTA
Opened May 3, 2008 at the Lakewood Ranch Cinema Opened May 3, 2008 at the Burns Court Cinema
SEATTLE
Opened April 11th, 2008 at the Landmark Varsity Theatre U.S. Premiere
13th Annual Seattle Jewish Film Festival
April 9th, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO
Opened April 11 at the Landmark Bridge Theater
PORTLAND
April 16, 2008
16th Portland Jewish Film Festival
NEW YORK
Westchester Jewish Film Festival
Jacob Burns Film Center
April 1st, 2008
WISCONSIN
Sneak Preview
Wisconsin International Film Festival
April 3 and 6, 2008
ISRAEL
World Premiere
Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival
December 6, 2007
Tel Aviv Cinematheque
December 17, 2007
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More Credits |
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| Script: Laura Bialis |
| Production Company: Foundation for Documentary Projects |
| Co-Production Company: Laura Bialis |
| Camera: John Ealer and Sarah Levy |
| Editor: Allan Holzman A.C.E. and Tchavdar Georgiev |
| Original Music: Charles Bernstein |
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Quotes |
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"Laura Bialis` powerful, stirring and comprehensive documentary "Refusenik" charts the long battle of Soviet Jews to win the right to leave their oppressive country.
In telling the story, culled from more than 100 interviews with activists, emigres, former Secretary of State George Shultz and even former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, Bialis provides not just a thorough history of more than 30 years of struggle and setbacks, but she shrewdly ties this chapter to a much larger saga of the Jewish people, of the Cold War and of activism in the West. "Refusenik" ably chronicles individuals and events over many years, and it achieves something else: a testament to the power of the individual to thwart oppressive government and to the grace born of bravery, endurance and principle." - Chicago Tribune
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