Nor By Day Nor By Night

Nor By Day Nor By Night

This program is proudly sponsored by Sephardic Heritage International (SHIN DC)

Set in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak, this absorbing and powerful drama from Jerusalem-born director Phinehas Veuillet is a meticulously detailed narrative centered around a conflict between Shmuel, the patriarch of a French Sephardic family, and the headmaster at his son’s school. Despite the boy’s educational qualifications and remarkable abilities as a star pupil, he is not accepted within a very prestigious, predominantly Ashkenazi Yeshiva; the family feels this is due to their Sephardic lineage.

Unwilling to accept this reality, Shmuel takes action—which will lead to tragedy…[a] deeply personal work of a filmmaker who left a strict Orthodox community at a young age, later using cinema to explore the contours of the world he knew.

Afraim Katzir, Executive Director of Shin DC, will introduce the film.

Afraim Katzir is the founding director of SEPHARDIC HERITAGEINTERNATIONAL in DC (SHIN DC), a cultural diplomacy and arts organization that celebrates and raises awareness of Sephardic and other underrepresented Jewish communities. Katzir is also the founding director of the Multicultural Jewish Arts Museum (MJAM,) a project of SHIN DC that highlights the Jewish culture and arts of African, Asian, Hispanic communities and their manifestations in the Americas. MJAM is envisioned as part of an effort to combat prejudice of all types, including antisemitism. We Call It “MyJAM: A Jewish Museum for Everyone.” Katzir has also served as Commissioner for Middle Eastern American Affairs for the State of Maryland. He has also worked on the Hill on issues involving the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs, including the Middle East. Additionally, Katzir has published on foreign and Jewish affairs, as well as Sephardic Jewish culture, and has given related talks and interviews on the Hill, C-SPAN, and The Axis on Syrian channel Orient News, among others