New Tree of Life documentary premieres at JFilm Fest
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Much has been said and written in the aftermath of a gunman’s attack on three congregations at the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018. With 11 people dead, it was the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.
Now a new film, “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life,” is having its world premiere Thursday night at Pittsburgh’s JFilm festival. It documents Pittsburgh’s response to hate and antisemitism in the aftermath of the assault.
The documentary was produced by Not In Our Town, a non-profit, globally recognized team behind the PBS Films “Waking in Oak Creek” and “Light in the Darkness.”
It’s the centerpiece of this year’s JFilm Festival and will screen at the AMC Waterfront Thursday at 7 p.m. It will be followed by a question-and-answer session with director Patrice O’Neill and other special guests.
“Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life” was filmed over a three-year period that included an escalation of antisemitism, the murder of George Floyd and the societal upheaval that followed, and the pandemic.
O’Neill said the murder of George Floyd created an opening for dialogue between Black and Jewish communities across the city.
“I think there were some really important allegiances built between the Black and Jewish communities that were strengthened,” said O’Neill. “It was part of a national reckoning. It was a way for people to acknowledge this tremendous pain that was occurring. It’s a part of what happened in Pittsburgh.”
O’Neill said her crew mobilized and began filming shortly after the attack on the Tree of Life, New Light and Dor Hadash congregations, and took a “big picture” look at what happened on 10/27 and its aftermath. She said the film focuses not only on the Jewish community’s response to the violence but also the response by the city as a whole.
“It became very clear that the level of response from this significant American city was like nothing we had seen. It was tremendous,” said O’Neill. “Not only is the Jewish community mourning and grieving and standing in support, but it’s the whole city turning out to respond to this.”
One of the people interviewed in the film is former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel, who knew personally some of the victims.
“He asks the question, ‘where does antisemitism come from?’ I think people in Pittsburgh are probing at that as well,” O’Neill said.
She said she hopes what people take away from her film is that out of the Tree of Life shootings there is an opening to build new relationships.
“So many things have happened that have enabled people to connect with each other — the film provides another opening for that — and that we don’t go back to our corners and try to fight separately. That we find new ways to address this rise in hate that we see across the country. We have so much more to learn from Pittsburgh.”