< Back

Madrid Before Hanita

Directed by: Eran Torbiner
58 Minutes, 2006

When the Spanish Civil War erupted in 1936, over 300 Jews from Palestine left their homeland to fight fascism by joining the International Brigade. Many of them were Jewish communists who believed Fascism was the main enemy of humanity in general and of Jews in particular. The volunteers from Palestine had to contend with the Zionist Jewish community, with the leadership of the Communist Party in Palestine and finally with the families who did not understand their urge to volunteer to fight in a war so far away from home. Interviews with the last of the volunteers still living today and their family members as well as excerpts from their letters and diaries featured in this insightful doc help to authentically chronicle their stories in Palestine and the decision to go to Spain and documents their complex relationships with the civilian Spanish population and their loves, disappointments, hopes, and losses.

Credits

Director: Eran Torbiner

Producer: Eran Torbiner

Writer: Eran Torbiner

Cinematographer: Eran Torbiner

Editor: Eran Torbiner

Original music: Boaz Schori

Tags