an outtake from "Azi Ayima"

Israel 2009, 77 mins. Hebrew, Arabic and French w/ English subtitles.

The filmmaker embarks on a journey with his mother in search of classmates from her elementary school, the Alliance, which she attended 60 years ago in the little village of Gurama in the Tafilalt region of Morocco. Through their stories of past and present, Morocco is reconstructed and comes to life through vivid memories. It is a story of transition, cultural crisis, social survival and also lots of faith, optimism, joy and dignity, told for the first time by Moroccan women of the first generation to immigrate to Israel.

filmmaker and author Sami Shalom ChetritSami Shalom Chetrit is the head of the Hebrew Studies Program in the department of Classical, Middle Eastern, and Asian Languages and Cultures at Queens College, CUNY. He is also a guest professor at UCLA each summer, where he gives a popular class on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Professor Chetrit is a Moroccan Jew who was raised in Israel. He writes and publishes scholarly work, poetry and prose and makes documentary films. His recently finished documentary film Azi Ayima, is about his mother's classmates in Morocco from 60 years ago. His next film project will explore the concept of "Jewish Statehood" throughout Jewish history.

Chetrit is the author of several books of poetry and nonfiction. He has been an outspoken advocate in Israel for improved educational and social opportunities for the Jews of the Arab/Muslim world, the "mizrahim." His previous film was The Black Panthers of Israel.

Copies of both Azi Ayima and The Black Panthers will be available for purchase at this event.