The Film " Go in Peace, Rain " is a journey following the metamorphosis of one Jewish melody, an ancient prayer of parting from the rain - "Who Brings The Dew"- and following its many incarnations which bring it to its final dramatic stance- to be the anthem of the State of Israel. From what is known, the melody began in I taly, and from there took a northerly turn to France, then West into Spain , Portugal and Gibraltar. During the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition, the melody was spread amongst the northern Portuguese communities - to cities such as Amsterdam, London, Hamburg, Paris and Prague ; and to communities in the East: Greece, Bulgaria, Rumania and Turkey. From there, it would seem, the melody moved to Eastern Europe. It was also nurtured among the southern Portuguese communities, in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The tune of the melody can be found in many variations. Among these: a Flemish National Song, a Polish air, a Turkish melody, a Slavic Shepherd Song, an ancient I tal ian song, a Czech children's tune, the " Hallel Blessings " (Sephardic Style), the scoring for the prayer " The Living God is Exalted " as per the customs of the Jews of Rome, a Swedish ditty called " Ack, V?rmeland ", a Bohemian Folk Song, an original tune sung in the synagogue in the town of Yassi , a Valachian national song, a Basque national song, the opening of the symphonic poem " The Moldau" , by Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, and others. The melody left Gibraltar, crossing the Atlantic Ocean and arriving in America : and on its journey across the globe, at the end of the 19 th Century, the same tune returned to the Land of Israel . The film moves around two axes: The wandering journey of the melody is its central axis. The other is that which takes the film from country to country and city to city, will be constructed from diaries of the Rabbinical Emissaries, mainly the wonderful journal of Rabbi Chayim Joseph Azulay (The "Chida"): "A Perfect Circle: A Story of Travels", which was written between 1753-1794. The film will recreate the journey of the melody, except instead of doing so on rickety wagons and boats, it will be don e using Europe 's modern transport of today. And because ultimately, there are people at the core of every film, the film will reach the remaining of the relevant Jewish communities scattered around the world, and those in Israel . Through the journey of the melody in the film, the richness and depths of this musical culture will be revealed, in an encounter with those who created and still create it. People who learned their daily ancient musical repertoire by ear, and continue this musical tradition upon which they were weaned.


Go in Peace, Rain!

Doc, 84 min, , 2007, Digibeta, Color

Written, Directed & Produced by: Rehuven Hecker
Sponsored by: Israel's 8 th Channel and The New Foundation for Cinema & Television
Language: French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Ladino, Hebrew and English with English subtitles / French subtitles

DVD - For Home Use Only :
$29.90

Synopsis


The Film " Go in Peace, Rain " is a journey following the metamorphosis of one Jewish melody, an ancient prayer of parting from the rain - "Who Brings The Dew"- and following its many incarnations which bring it to its final dramatic stance- to be the anthem of the State of Israel. From what is known, the melody began in I taly, and from there took a northerly turn to France, then West into Spain , Portugal and Gibraltar. During the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition, the melody was spread amongst the northern Portuguese communities - to cities such as Amsterdam, London, Hamburg, Paris and Prague ; and to communities in the East:...

Festivals

  • Sao Paulo Israeli Film Festival, Brazil, 2011
  • Hamburg Museum of Contemporary Art, Hamburg, 2010
  • Festival of Jewish Cinema, Australia, 2008
  • Jewish History Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2008

Additional info

Gallery

Festivals

  • Sao Paulo Israeli Film Festival, Brazil, 2011
  • Hamburg Museum of Contemporary Art, Hamburg, 2010
  • Festival of Jewish Cinema, Australia, 2008
  • Jewish History Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2008
  • Utopia Jewish Center, NY, 2008
  • Krakow Int'l Film Festival, Poland, 2008
  • Israeli Film Showcase Brussels & Luxemburg, 2008
  • Berlin Jewish Film Festival, Germany, 2008
  • Isratim Film Festival, Paris, 2008
  • Luxemburg Israeli Film Festival, 2008
  • Brussels Israeli Film Festival, Belgium, 2008
  • Jacob Burns Film Center, USA, 2008
  • Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival, USA
  • Calgary Jewish Film Festival, 2007
  • Jerusalem Int'l Film Festival – The Jewish Experience, 2007

Educational

  • Yad VaShem Visual Center
  • Yale University
  • Duke University
  • University of Florida
  • Makor Jewish Library, Australia
  • Ohio State University
  • Library of Congress
  • Monash University, Australia
  • Harvard University
  • Maryland University
  • University of Pennsylvania