A Jewish father attempts to persuade his xenophobic sons of the possibility of honor and goodness outside their insular community in this technically rudimentary but deeply affecting documentary by Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky. Jewish father Daum, concerned that fundamentalist extremism is endangering his own family as well as many of the world's religions, takes his ultra-orthodox sons--Talmudic scholars who believe the worst about gentiles--on a pilgrimage to Poland, hoping to find the farmers who hid their grandfather and his brothers from the Nazis for three years. The search is ultimately successful, and the Daums meet the aged couple who were instrumental in effectively saving their family from extinction (a coda records Israeli recognition of the elderly Poles for their courage and a grudging admission by Daum's sons that probity is possible among non-Jews, even if it might be rare). Hiding and Seeking is a worthy illustration of Daum's argument that a lack of religion might be preferable to a religion that fails to see the potential for godliness in all men. DVD extras include a directors' Q&A. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
Hiding and Seeking
(2004) 85 min. DVD: $29.99. First Run Features (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. Volume 20, Issue 2
Hiding and Seeking
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