Adio Kerida

Infobox Film
name = Adio Kerida: Goodbye my Dear Love


image_size = 150px
caption =
director = Ruth Behar
producer =
writer =
narrator =
starring =
music =
cinematography =
editing =
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released = 2002 (USA)
runtime = 82 min.
country =
language = Spanishwith English subtitles
budget =
preceded_by =
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website = http://www.wmm.lfchosting.com/filmcatalog/pages/c598.shtml
amg_id =
imdb_id =http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355174/

"Adio Kerida: Goodbye my Dear Love" is an award-winning 2002 documentary by anthropologist Ruth Behar that follows her trip back to Cuba, the place of her childhood, as she searches for memories from her past and investigates the dwindling Jewish community that remains.

ummary

Ruth Behar was Born in Cuba before Castro’s revolution but was too young to remember the Havana that she and her family left behind upon immigrating to the U.S. The film follows as Behar leaves her home in Michigan to return to Havana, where her father and grandfather once worked as peddlers.

Behar presents Danayda Levy as an example of Cuban Jewry. Danayda’s mother is a Jehovah’s Witness, while her father, Jose, is president of the Sephardi Jewish center. She sits in her mother’s apartment, with her sister who practices Santeria, the Nigerian-cum-Afro-Cuban religion. While Santeria sings praise to Elegua, the “one who opens doors,” Danayda plays the drum and professes her commitment to Judaism. Danayda reads from the Torah with her father's help.

Ruth Behar is half Ashkenazi and half Sephardic. Her father, a dark haired Turkish Jew, traces his history back to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. “It is said that when our ancestors left Spain, they took the keys with them,” says Behar, “always believing in the possibility of return.” Fittingly then, she finds reminders of her family’s history everywhere: her parents’ former apartment in Havana is unaltered –- not a piece of furniture out of place; the Behar name is all over the gravestones in the Sephardic cemetery; and on the street named Inquisador, Behar visits the ruins of her father’s temple. She asks, “Who am I in Cuba? A returning native, a reluctant anthropologist, or a tourist?”

Reception

"Visual Anthropology Review":"Personal, poetic, and reflective...offers a glimpse into a relatively unknown realm of the Cuban reality. Recommended."

"Library Journal":"Offers an easy-to-view introduction to a fascinating culture. Libraries with strong Jewish studies collections should definitely have this one."

References

*cite news
last =
first =
title =Adio Kerida
language = English
publisher = The Jewish Channel
date =
url =http://www.tjctv.com/movies/adio-kerida/
accessdate = July 28

**cite news
last =
first =
title =Adio Kerida (Goodbye Dear Love)
language = English
publisher = Women Making Movies
date =
url =http://www.wmm.lfchosting.com/filmcatalog/pages/c598.shtml
accessdate = July 28

ee also

*Culture of Cuba
*History of the Jews in Latin America
*List of Latin American Jews
*History of the Jews in Cuba

Other films about Cuban Jewry:
*""
*""
*"Trip to Jewish Cuba"

External links

* [http://www.wmm.lfchosting.com/filmcatalog/pages/c598.shtml "Women Making Movies" review]
* [http://www.ruthbehar.com/AdioKerida.htm Ruth Behar's website]
* [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/306741/Adio-Kerida/overview "New York Times" write-up]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355174/ IMDb page]