Stateless

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE LONG-ANTICIPATED PREMIERE of STATELESS:

An Eye-Opening Portrait of the Exodus of Soviet Jews in the late 1980s

The COJECO BluePrint Fellowship in conjunction with the JCC in Manhattan is proud to present a New York City premiere of Stateless, a documentary by Michael Drob. A powerful film about the emigration of Soviet Jews during the late 1980s, Stateless, will screen at the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan located at  334 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY, 10023, at 7:30pm on Thursday ,January 23, 2014.

In the late 1980s, with the onset of perestroika, the end of the Cold War and the sudden political friendship between Reagan and Gorbachev, for the first time in over 70 years Soviet Jews were allowed to leave. Stateless shares the accounts of some of the Soviet Jews who were finally able to escape the oppressive Soviet Union on the brink of its collapse. There was, however, one obstacle the immigrants were unprepared for: the United States would no longer welcome them with open arms as it had welcomed their predecessors. In 1988, American policies had suddenly changed, leaving thousands of Soviet Jews stranded in Italy: Stateless.

This vivid documentary captures a unique slice of history from the perspectives of the émigrés as well as expert accounts from the influential Jewish leaders involved in the immigration process during the late 1980s, including David Harris of the AJC, Mark Handelman of NYANA, and Mark Hetfield of HIAS. The COJECO BluePrint Fellowship is funded by the UJA-Federation of New York and Genesis Philanthropy Group.

The event will be followed by a panel discussion and Q & A with the filmmaker Michael Drob, as well as experts featured in the film. A wine and cheese reception to follow.

$8 for members and $10 for non-members.

For more information and registration: http://www.jccmanhattan.org/cat-content.aspx?catid=2885&progID=28698#/EGRFLM00W4 or call 646-505-5708

About the Filmmaker

Michael Drob emigrated from Riga, Latvia in 1988. While in Italy his family was denied refugee status on two occasions with no explanation. Now, 25 years later, Michael made it his goal to find out why his family, along with thousands of others, was denied refugee status. This unique exploration contributes to and preserves a critical part of the Soviet Jewish history for generations to come. In addition to making Stateless, Michael had been operating the Story Tailors video productions with his wife, Victoria, for the past eight years.