Limmud Bay Area Experience 2015

From Bukhara to Djerba, Sana'a to Brooklyn, Mumbai to St. Petersburg, Zion Ozeri’s photographs speak of the cross-cultural dimension of contemporary Jewish life, capturing an instant that reflects ritual, spirituality, and ordinary life. Ozeri looks at Jews around the world, finding in them a sense of home, familiar customs, and shared experiences.

Last Portraits (Selfmade Films, Netherlands 2015) is a documentary about the legacy of forgotten photographer Annemie Wolff.  After she passed away, a remarkable collection of portraits of Jews taken in 1943 Amsterdam was discovered.  Seventy years later, these photos, often of smiling people wearing the requisite yellow star, are of great emotional value for survivors and relatives.  These previously lost works illuminate an untold story of Jewish life in Amsterdam during the Holocaust.
After the war ended, Annemie Wolff returned to her pre-war photographic career.  For the next twenty years she produced her best work:  images of the Amsterdam harbor that are optimistic, full of wide horizons and vistas.  She never talked about the war again, but her remarkable photos tell her story.