Abstrakt: |
Taking an historical approach, this article explores a series of films depicting life in Jewish agricultural colonies established in Argentina between 1889 and 1936. Most of these works were documentaries, although some fictions did make it to the screen. For Jewish citizens of Argentina, the past and present existence of the farming settlements turned out to be an efficient vehicle for presenting themselves to the State and civil society as authentic Argentines. As a result, the "Jewish gauchos" (the farming settlements' dwellers) were present as protagonists in mass culture productions. This exploration of fiction and documentary films offers a rich, composite depiction of the overall production on the Jewish colonies and shows the shift from initial hostility to current support by sectors of society and governmental organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |