Blogerim

Interview with Dalia Castel and Orit Nahmias

Dalia Castel and Orit Nahmias prepared for the interview by sitting on the sofa to watch Jerusalem for Cowards together; photo: private

Dalia Castel is a filmmaker, Orit Nahmias an actress at Berlin’s Maxim Gorki Theatre. Both grew up in Jerusalem – they are childhood friends and their paths have crossed on numerous occasions. Today, they both live in Berlin. When asked why they made a documentary about their hometown, they  finish each other’s sentence: “We had questions, …” Orit begins to explain, “… about Jerusalem,” Dalia adds. They turned their questions into a very personal documentary: Jerusalem for Cowards (2011). The film will be screened at the Jewish Museum Berlin on February 19^th, and the screening will be followed by a discussion. → continue reading

Saturday, 10th of February, in Dresden, with livestream!

The motto of this year’s Jewrovision is THE CIRCLE OF LIFE. More than 60 groups with a total of 1200 members from all over Germany will participate. The jury consists of Daniel Donskoy, Susan Sideropolous, Ben Salomo, and Aaron Altaras.

Important information about the event at Messe Dresden (Hall 1) – including information on ticket reservations and directions – can be found on the Jewrovision website (in German).

In case you cannot be there in person (unlike our program director): The livestream starts at 8.30 pm.

About Jewrovision

Based on the idea of the Eurovision Song Contest, Jewrovision is not only the largest Jewish singing and dancing competition in Germany, but also in Europe. The first Jewrovision took place in 2002 in Bad Sobernheim. This year, for the first time, the competition takes place in one of the new federal states of Germany. All Jewish children and young people aged ten to nineteen from Germany can participate. Their local Jewish community’s youth center registers them.

14 May 1924–28 January 2018

Coco Schumann at the multimedia Rafael Roth Learning Center in 2002; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jo Diener

The Jewish Museum Berlin grieves the loss of Coco Schumann. The guitarist and jazz musician passed away last Sunday at the age of ninety-three years old. Coco Schumann frequently performed as part of the Cultural Summer program, and his relationship with the Jewish Museum Berlin reaches back to its founding. For a long time, Coco Schumann’s life story could be retraced in the Rafael Roth Learning Center. It exposed museum visitors to a childhood cut short by National Socialist oppression—and a musical talent that granted young Schumann moments of self-assertion in the Berlin jazz clubs ostracized by the Nazis. This talent would also save his life in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz.

→ continue reading