Ivan and Abraham = Moi Ivan, toi Abraham [Widescreen] [NTSC]

This beautifully directed and photographed debut feature film by Franco-Polish filmmaker, Yoldande Zauberman, is set in a 1930s Polish shtetl, or small Jewish community, during a time of impending religious and political tensions leading up to Hitler’s invasion of Poland. It tells of a unique and special friendship between two young boys, Abraham (Roma Alexandrovitch), a nine year-old Jewish boy and Ivan (Sacha Iakovlev), a fourteen year-old Catholic boy, and their determination to remain best friends as religious prejudices begin to surface in the Polish community and within Abraham’s own family. When Abraham’s grandfather tries to stop the boys from seeing one another, they decide to runaway together. Added to this family drama is the alienation between Abraham’s teenage sister, Rachel (Marina Lipkina) and their father, who disapproves of Rachel’s relationship with Aaron (Vladimir Machkov), a young Communist activist. Aaron and Rachel also take flight to escape the prejudices and intolerances and to seek out Abraham and Ivan. The film focuses on these four young outcasts, their relationships and the drama of living in uncertain times. Filmed evocatively in black and white with quite an impressive young cast, “Ivan and Abraham” captures the essence of life between the Wars in Eastern Europe and the intolerances which existed, not only religiously, but politically and ethnically. Cast also includes Alexandre Kaliaguine, Helene Lapiower, Rolan Bykov, Zinovi Guerdt. In Yiddish, Polish, Russian and Gypsy dialect with English subtitles. (Awards: Cannes, 1993; Moscow, 1993)