A Home on the Range
A Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Ranchers of Petaluma | |
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Directed by | Bonnie Burt Judith Montell |
Produced by | Bonnie Burt Judith Montell |
Release date |
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Running time | 52 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
A Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Ranchers of Petaluma is a 2002
Summary
A Home on the Range uses old photographs, archival color footage of the idealistic society that once existed in
The film demonstrates that for many of the Jews living in Petaluma, Judaism was more of a culture than a religion. It includes an account of a former resident saying that people kept the holidays for the social attachment, and another stating: “Judaism—there wasn't any!”. Burt and Montell show that, for the farmers of Petaluma, Judaism meant less about God and more about speaking Yiddish, eating matzah, and forming a kibbutz. But most of all, it meant they were outsiders to American society because they were often called rude names, discriminated against, and even attacked. As one woman in the film remembers, “they used to call us dirty Jews.” Another woman remembers a particularly frightening night when an antisemitic neighbor threw a barn party and the drunk and rowdy crowd terrified her parents so much that they couldn't sleep that night. There is also an incident when non-Jewish leaders of a neighboring community acted out their antisemitism and anti-communist by attacking some of the men of Petaluma.
The film shows that, after several generations of life in Petaluma,
Production
Co-director Bonnie Burt has been making documentaries about Jewish life since the 1990s. Her films have screened at the Museum of Modern Art and at the Lincoln Center in New York.[1] In 1992, she teamed up with Judy Montell to produce A Home on the Range.
Reception
The
See also
Other Documentaries about Jews in America:
- My Yiddish Momme McCoy
- Awake Zion
- From Swastika to Jim Crow
- Professional Revolutionary
- Song of a Jewish Cowboy
More information on Jewish communes:
Notes
- ^ "A Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Ranchers of Petaluma". Bonnie Burt and Judith Montell. Archived from the original on 2007-07-04. Retrieved August 6, 2007.
- ^ "San Diego Jewish Film Festival". San Diego Center for Jewish Culture. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved August 6, 2007.
References
- Fishkoff, Sue (7 May 1999). "When left-wingers and chicken wings populated Petaluma". The Jewish News Weekly. Retrieved August 6, 2007.
- "A Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Ranchers of Petaluma". Bonnie Burt and Judith Montell. Archived from the original on 2007-07-04. Retrieved August 6, 2007.
- "San Diego Jewish Film Festival". San Diego Center for Jewish Culture. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved August 6, 2007.
- "A Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Ranchers of Petaluma". New England Film. November 2002. Archived from the original on 2014-07-23. Retrieved August 6, 2007.