Film screening and reception for unique documentary on Judeo-Brazilian syncretism. Saravá Shalom (Synagogue of Ancestral Commitments) is a poetic documentary about dialogue between Afro-Brazilian, Indigenous and Jewish mystical traditions.

Filmmaker Alex Minkin will speak with us after the screening along with UCLA professor Bryan Pitts, and will join us for a reception.

Alex Minkin is a visual anthropologist and cultural activist, focusing his research on the intersections between Jewish and Brazilian cultures. Alex studied at the Archives Project of the Jewish Theological Seminary in Moscow and graduated from the James Striar School of General Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University.

Bryan Pitts is a historian of 20th century Brazil. His is the author of Until the Storm Passes: Politicians, Democracy, and the Demise of Brazil’s Military Dictatorship. He has also conducted research on the role of religion in shaping ethnic identity in the Syrian-Lebanese community in São Paulo.

Watch the trailer here.

This event is cosponsored by Kultur Mercado, Jewtina y co, and the UCLA Center for Brazil Studies.

Get tickets here. Sunday, October 18, 7 PM.