Directed by Sara Bulloch, Johanna Reimer-Henteleff

Logline: From challah to immigration to the wandering jew trope, Ma Nishma Manitoba is a mid-length documentary that explores Manitoban Jewish stories of identity and history.

Synopsis: From challah to immigration to the wandering Jew trope, Ma Nishma Manitoba is a mid-length documentary that explores Manitoban Jewish stories of identity and history. Filmmakers Johanna and Sara put their own experiences in local context by chatting with several Jewish Manitobans, including a rabbi, politician, artist, Israeli immigrant, and others. Archival materials, illustrations, and stop animations connect history with present-day opinions and stories, as Sara and Johanna explore what being Jewish in Manitoba means to them and others.

Distribution Contact: WFG

More Details

RUNTIME: 41 Minutes
GENRE: Documentary, Animation
PRODUCTION FORMAT: HD
LANGUAGE: English
LOCATION: Manitoba
TECHNIQUES: Paper Cutouts, Computer Animation, Hand Process (col), Stop Motion, Live Action
KEYWORDS: Comedy, Art, Cultural Analysis, Coming Of Age, Feminism, Human Rights, Jewish, Judaism, Female Filmmaker

Director's Statement: We both wanted to explore our Jewish identities, and learn more about Manitoban Jewish history. This project was very "the more you learn the less you know" because we found so many parts of Jewish culture and community we didn't know much about, like Israel-Palestine conflict, experiences with antisemitism, and different versions of Jewish childhoods. We were both raised in interfaith households so we felt somewhat disconnected from the local Jewish community. It was incredibly interesting to hear various people's family histories, including immigration struggles, and how they express their Jewish identities, from religion to art to activism. From the start, we knew we wanted to incorporate animation elements to bring life to the historical stories and archival materials we found in our research. Stop animation and illustration were also COVID-19 friendly ways to express the interviewees sense of humour or opinions. Our goal was never to paint the Jewish community as a monolith but show a snapshot of the spectrum of Jewish life in Manitoba.