Full Description
Bay Area filmmaker Bonnie Burt creates a soulful and moving portrait of Rachel Amado Bortnick, a Sephardic Jew who came to the United States from Izmir, Turkey, as a young college student. One of the last of her generation to speak Ladino (Hebrew-Spanish), Rachel takes us on a fascinating exploration of her unique Turkish culture. Through music, cooking, photos, and stories, Jewish life and customs in Turkey are remembered.
Filmmaker Bio(s)
BONNIE BURT has been documenting Jewish life and culture for 20 years. After a
career as a psychotherapist, she produced a trilogy of videos about Jewish life
in Cuba including: “The Believers” , “Abraham and Eugenia” (SFJFF premiere)and
“Trip to Jewish Cuba”. In addition, she has produced a video about adult bat
mitzvah, “Coming of Age: Adult Bat Mitzvah”, and “Trees Cry For Rain: A
Sephardic Journey” (SFJFF premiere), about Sephardic history and culture. Her
work has been shown in film festivals worldwide and on television.
Ms. Burt currently lives in the Bay Area of California and is working on a
documentary about the radical chicken ranchers of Petaluma, California.
