Les Gardiens du Temple

<p>Often quiet and located in the heart of the historic districts of European cities, the &laquo;Jewish Museums&raquo; are listed in the &laquo;Points of Interest&raquo; section of most tourist guides. Far from the hustle and bustle of the most popular places, they each tell their own story of a life gone. In C&oacute;rdoba, the birthplace of the medieval philosopher Maimonides, it was the inquisition of 1492 that destroyed the most prolific Jewish life ever.<br /> <img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/583692/venise-1554308729.jpg" width="100%" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /> <strong>In Krakow, Berlin and Venice,</strong> &ldquo;Nazism did everything to eradicate&rdquo; Jewish communities and their culture.<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /> At a time when anti-Semitism is once again being expressed, <strong>&laquo;is there anything else than a past for Jewish communities in Europe?</strong> This is the question raised in this documentary.</p> <p>If you ask Marcella, Sebastian, Janusz and Joseph, they will answer yes. Each of these 4 characters are &laquo;The Guardians of the Temple&raquo;, in their cities, they try to keep or revive a Jewish culture.<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/583697/frise_personnages-1554309249.jpg" width="100%" /><br /> <strong>Marcella Ansald</strong>i is the curator of the Jewish Museum of the Ghetto Vecchio of Venice. A Venetian Jew, &laquo;she has always fought so that this Judaism made of multiple influences can continue, although there are still 300 Jewish families living near the Lagoon<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /> <strong>Janusz Makuch</strong> discovered Judaism by chance when he spoke with a Jew from Krakow. He then studied Jewish history and has since founded in his city - almost 30 years ago - the festival of Jewish cultures, which brings together more than 30,000 people at the beginning of each summer around this decimated Klezmer culture.</p> <p>Thousands of kilometers away, in Andalusia, <strong>Sebastian de la Obra</strong>, also of Christian culture, met Judaism while walking through the white alleys of the Juderia of C&oacute;rdoba. He renovated an Andalusian house adjoining the former synagogue to found &laquo;La Casa de Sefarad&raquo;, a Jewish cultural center, in a country where few Spaniards have once in their lives had the opportunity to meet a Jew.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Over the past ten years, <strong>Joseph Shuster</strong> has seen the Jewish community in Berlin reborn, thanks to a large contingent of young Israelis who have come to flee the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the expensive life of Israel.<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /> A renewal, but also a fear: to see anti-Semitism come into people&rsquo;s minds again.<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /> Through 4 crossed portraits intertwined with strong sequences, these 4 characters exemplify a key issue</p> <p>75 years after the Shoah, at a time when the last survivors are gradually dying out, what has become of European Judaism? Is there a renewal? Have all Europeans done their Duty to Remember ?<br /> <strong>Do the demons of the past prevent a new breath? Is European Judaism condemned to remain confined to museums</strong>, where visitors contemplate the relics of a dense, rich and, at the same time, dramatic history?<img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/583688/frise1-1554308409.PNG" width="100%" /><br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /> The film aims to establish an constant link between History and the present, and to show how the heritage of the past is articulated with the present, and vice versa. It will be very important to embody these temporalities through closely followed characters. Their sincerity in certain places, intimate moments for example, will show us the human depth of the Jewish journey in a city and a country.<br /> It will also be a film about the importance of Memory, how it should live and be presented.<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /> <strong>Who are its ambassadors, its women and men fighting to preserve it?</strong> Who are these men and women who are also fighting for the renewal of a Jewish presence in countries such as Poland, Germany, but also Spain and Italy?</p> <p><img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/583701/Maimonide2-1554309734.PNG" width="100%" /></p> <p>The film will also raise the question of the benevolence of the populations.<br /> What would happen if this Judaism, as our characters wish, were to leave the museum in which it is often confined? How far is this renewal &laquo;acceptable&raquo; and accepted?<br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /> In this respect,<strong> &laquo;The Guardians of the Temple&raquo; is intended to be a film that is both positive and melancholic</strong>, festive and anxious, historical and contemporary, modelled after the Jewish soul.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>