Representations of Jewish Communities in Argentine Cinema

• In Event: Crossing Continents: Jewish Experiences and Identities in Latin America and Oceania

Abstract

In Argentine cinema, Jewish communities have often been portrayed through the lens of Ashkenazi traditions, with an emphasis on solidarity, memory and collective belonging. My presentation explores the diverse representations of Jewish life in three contemporary films: The Tenth Man/El rey del Once (Daniel Burman, 2016), The Last Suit/El último traje (Pablo Solarz, 2017) and The Red Star/La estrella roja (Gabriel Lichtmann, 2021). Through these works, Argentine cinema reveals the multiple shades of Jewish identity, from the personal memory of Holocaust trauma to the negotiation of communal obligations in urban Buenos Aires. While the first two films focus on Ashkenazi characters and the institutions that sustain their cultural identity, The Red Star introduces a Sephardic dimension, playfully blurring the boundaries between historical truth and fictional myth.
My presentation argues that contemporary Argentine cinema both reaffirms traditional narratives of Jewish communal solidarity and opens new spaces for imagining Jewish identities in more hybrid, inventive forms.

Author

• Mirna Vohnsen, Technological University Dublin