The Jewish community ‘Bene Israel’ settled in India 2000 years ago. Although they never faced anti-Semitism, most of them moved to Israel in the 1950’s and today they are 4000 in Bombay and its region. The Bene Israel story, however, may come to an end. Since the community is so small, the Indian Jewish culture could evaporate within one generation. Many families are afraid they will have to choose between staying in India and being Jewish. This story raises the question whether the creation of Israel, in an odd trick of history, hasn’t actually threatened a unique Jewish culture. The last two educators of this community, Sharon and Sharona, were trained in a yeshiva in Jerusalem and have relentlessly been working towards a better Indian Jewish life. As their daughters are growing older, they have to decide whether they will stay with their shrinking community or if they will fly to Israel in order to provide their children with a better Jewish life.

Jonas Parienté is a documentary filmmaker. His films explore questions and stories related to migration, identity and urbanization. Jonas studied in Paris (BA in Sociology, summa cum laude) and New York (MFA in Integrated Media Arts) – where he directed his first two short documentaries. In the first one we meet 75 year-old Richard, who has been living for half a century in a young men’s hostel. The next one, Bodies & Soul, is a portrait of his then-neighbor Joe, whose life incarnates the transformations of the Lower East Side, from the self-destructive punk era to the more gentrified current period. After his first hour-long documentary Next year in Bombay, he directed a webdocumentary for French public TV on Mumbai’s urbanization from the eyes and experience of a rickshaw driver (A rickshaw in the city, www.France5.fr).

Mathias Mangin was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and grew up in Paris. He graduated in finance from Edhec Business School, and later studied photography in Sao Paulo and filmmaking in New York. His short fiction film The Chance was selected in festivals in Paris and Toronto. He also directed Paris, Adeus, a short video art piece showed during the “Year of France in Brazil” and on TV Cultura. Mathias is actually part of a screenwriting workshop at the Fémis School of Cinéma in Paris. (www.mathiasmangin.com)