Take Us Home: A Dayton Film from Israel

If I told you there is a touching documentary that tells the story of the exodus of a family of Ethiopian Jews to Israel  – would you think it’s a Dayton film? Well – it is! TAKE US HOME is the most recent documentary by Aileen LeBlanc, known for telling the Joe Desch story through Dayton Codebreakers. Aileen worked with a Dayton-based team that included Mike King, Jim Klein, Michael and Sandy Bashaw, John Mays, Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, and many others.  Major support for this project came from The Levin Family Foundation and numerous local partnerswho helped bring the story to life.

TAKE US HOME follows Fekadu who has been waiting for ten years in Ethiopia to go to Israel to reunite with his siblings and be welcomed into a more full experience with his Jewish faith. We see the rest of his family get the go-ahead for the trip, but Fekadu, his wife and their six children must stay behind. They learn their emigration is in jeopardy because of their adopted son, Worku. They must leave him behind or be forced to stay in Ethiopia under religious persecution. The audience watches the challenging decisions between faith, family and freedom. We watch how the events unfold in Ethiopia and Israel. Even returning ‘home’ to their Israel is not easy as the Ethiopian Jews are outcasts; they are overwhelmed by life in the high-tech, Hebrew-speaking country and their Jewish-ness is doubted among their new countrymen.

The Dayton premiere of this award-winning documentary will take place on Thursday, November 15 at the Dayton Art Institute. It’s presented as part of the Cultural Arts and Book Festival in partnership with FilmDayton, The Dayton Art Institute, 91.3 FM WYSO, and the Jewish Community Relations Council. A 7 PM reception precedes the 7:30PM screening of the film. Immediately following, there will be a Q&A with the filmmakers. As a special treat Worku and Fekadu will be in attendance to answer your questions about their story! Tickets are only $5 in advance and $7 at the door and may be purchased through The Dayton Art Institute Web page. [yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wCfzmj9CSY&feature=plcp’]