2023 Diaspora and Art Film Festival - 5TH PARAGRAPH INVALIDS by Boris Maftsir
In March 2020, filmmaker Boris Maftsir conducted Zoom interviews with 20 Israeli immigrants who left the Soviet Union in 1990/1991 from Moscow, Leningrad, and Kyiv. 2023 Diaspora & Art Film festivals are presented in a variety of formats of public and online events from May 6 to July 8, 2023. The FREE online screening of "5th Paragraph Invalids" will be held from June 25 to July 8, 2023; registration via Eventbite.
Event Venue:
Eventbrite | onlineEvent Date:
June 25 to July 8, 2023
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5th PARAGRAPH INVALIDS by Boris Maftsir
Feature documentary | Israel 2023 | Russian, Hebrew with English subtitles | 52 min
In March 2020, filmmaker Boris Maftsir conducted Zoom interviews with 20 Israeli immigrants who left the Soviet Union in 1990/1991 from Moscow, Leningrad, and Kyiv. The purpose of the interviews was to uncover the meaning behind the term "5th Paragraph invalids". The 5th Paragraph referred to a long-standing discrimination faced by Soviet Jews, who were denied access to higher education and certain jobs due to suspicions of dual loyalty. The film reveals the stark contrast between the Soviet propaganda and the reality faced by Soviet Jews and the severe impact this had on their lives and ambitions. One participant, Professor Zeev Hanin, summarizes the situation: "Soviet Jews in the 1970s and 1980s were people who were denied the right to see their country as their own." This film provides a unique perspective on the lives of Soviet Jews before they immigrated to Israel and United States.
Boris Maftsir, born in Riga, Latvia, is the creator of the outstanding documentary series The Unknown Holocaust, which we have had the honor of showing at our previous festivals. In 2019, Boris Maftsir became the Guest of Honor of our festival for the most significant exploration of the Holocaust in the Soviet Union, which was hushed up and banned for decades. Recovering forgotten massacre sites, talking to local witnesses and researchers, he has created a deeply emotional, historically accurate and talented series of films, on par with the films of Claude Lanzmann and the monumental collection of testimonies of the Shoah Spielberg Foundation.
Previously at our 2023 Diaspora & Art Film Festival: the recently launched Legacy Program, which features captivating stories of art and literature nested in a historical context; a special event with Leon Prudovsky - a screening of two of his short films and a Q&A session moderated by Regina Khidekel; US premiere of "My Neighbor Adolf" by Leon Prudovsky and Q&A.
Russian-American Cultural Center programing is made possible by part with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Cojeco and Tianaderrah Foundation.
