Russian premiere of "Birobidzhan" by the Belgian director Guy-Marc Hinant will take place at the 1st Ekaterinburg Jewish Film Festival.
Late 1920s and early 1930s were marked by the Soviet government making attempts to improve relationships with the Western world, and the Birobidzhan project could have played a role in influencing Jewish and pro-Jewish public opinion in Europe and America. The association of Jews with the settlement project of the Soviet Far East was also aimed at obtaining financial support of their well-off compatriots residing abroad. Moreover, such settlement seemed to provide a partial solution to the economic difficulties faced by the Soviet Jews.
Belgian director Guy-Marc Hinant visited Birobidzhan to explore that unusual piece of history and to learn what traces the Jewish culture has left in that land.
