Adio Kerida (Goodbye Dear Love)

Returning to her childhood home in Cuba, anthropologist Ruth Behar rekindles a connection with the dwindling community of Sephardic Jews, taking viewers on a personal journey in this nostalgic exploration of cultural loss coupled with a quest for identity. Mixing old photographs and ethnic music illustrating the rich heritage of Cuban Jews, Behar meets and interviews several elderly citizens who serve as a bridge to the pre-Castro Jewish life on the island, visiting with the nanny who cared for her until the Cuban Revolution led her family to immigrate to the United States in 1962, and dropping by the decaying neighborhood synagogue, once the center for community life. Like Behar, many interviewees share a similar desire to reconnect with their Jewish heritage, although the filmmaker also records (with some regret) conversations with members of her extended family who do not share her passion to return to Cuba. Resonating with the historical memory of repeated diasporas, Behar's bittersweet odyssey echoes many of the painful political and cultural upheavals that have been an integral part of the modern itinerant Jewish experience. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (A. Cantú)