SUZANNE CHESSLER

Special to the Jewish News

s Jews across the conti-
nents look ahead to the
21st century, Canadian
filmmaker Simcha
Jacobovici suggests
a look back to some
three millennia ago.
At issue are the 10 tribes of the
Kingdom of Israel exiled by the con-
quering Assyrians and commonly
referred to as the "lost tribes."
Although the prevailing theory is
that the dispersed legions went their
separate ways and assimilated into
other cultures, Jacobovici takes a more
radical view: He asserts that the ban-
ished tribes migrated in groups to dis-
tant territories, where their descen-
dants can be found today.
Jacobovici is about to ask Detroiters
to examine his evidence with the U.S.
premiere of his new film, Quest for the

Lost Tribes of Israel.

The producer/director/writer will
present his film and findings Tuesday,
June 29, at Masonic Temple. The
evening is a benefit for Bais Menachem
Academy in West Bloomfield; Lev
Achie B'Levov, an educational and
humanitarian program in Ukraine; and
Chabad's Children of Chernobyl, a
nonprofit relief agency airlifting ill
Jewish children living near the site of
the nuclear disaster.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
and Arts and Entertainment Network
will air the documentary later this year.
"I think we have drawn a plausible
link for nine of the 10 tribes," says
Jacobovici, who also is writing a book
on the subject.
Modern Jews trace their heritage to
two tribes living south of the others
— the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
The northern tribes in question are
Reuven, Simeon, Issachar, Zevulun,
Menashe, Ephraim, Dan, Naphtali,
Gad and Asher.
"As for the 10th, the tribe of Asher,
I think I know what happened, but I
think it's a film unto itself Asher was a
sea-faring tribe and therefore the
search for Asher and the remains of the
tribe of Asher are more complicated to
hunt down. It would take [travels] all
over the world," says Jacobovici.
Jacobovici's film invites descendants
of Judah and Benjamin to accompany
him via cinema to remote areas and fol-
low up on biblical clues. Among the dis-
tant territories visited by the crew are
the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the
island of Djerba in southern Tunisia and
Uzbekistan in the former Soviet Union.

lt7brdenLigh

k

czndle- 3

1.

•

•

the island fDie-i2a Tunisia a f ,v ,i--19

f

•

• t,

.

oty

- ;n
n y acient times.

-Cc 3:-

About The Filmmakers

Quest for the Lost Tribes of Israel is co-produced by
Simcha Jacobovici and Elliott Halpern of Associated
Producers in Canada, a documentary production
company established in 1986.
Jacobovici, also a director and writer, has worked
on numerous films since the 1980s, including A
Mother's. Grief about losing a child; The Dancing
Game, about ballroom dancing and the Olympics;
and The Selling of Innocents, about child sex slavery in
India.
Films with Jewish topics include Hollywoodism: Jews,

Movies & The American Dream; Expulsion and Memory:
Descendants of the Hidden Jews, about the Spanish
Inquisition; and Deadly Currents, which explores the

Palestinian-Israeli conflict as of 1991.
Jacobovici, named Canada's top documentary film-
maker by the Ryerson Review of Journalism, won Emmy
Awards in 1996 and 1997 for Outstanding Investigative

Filinmaker Simcha
Jacobovici, right,
with cinematographer
Mark MacKay on
location with "Quest
for the Lost Tribes
of Israel."

Journalism, a Certificate of Special Merit from the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a Genie
Award (Canada's Oscar) and three Cable Ace Awards.
Halpern, also a director, shares awards with Jacobovici,
including the 1996 and 1997 Emmy Awards. A law grad-
uate from the University of Ottawa, he also received a
Genie Award, five Gemini Awards and a Gold Hugo
from the Chicago International Film Festival. n

— Suzanne Chessler

6/18
1999

Detroit Jewish News

81

