On Pozner and Laurent's Kinojudaica

The volume's thematic categories include: (1) ciné-judéité, an interrogation of representational modalities ofJewish identity in films from 1910 to 1940; (2) cinema as a tool of propaganda, referencing political uses of cinema in the Soviet Union; (3) devant la Shoah, with three major contributions on images ofJewish genocide; (4) Jews near and far, proposing a broader exploration ofJews abroad as figured by Soviet cinema; and (5) reality/fiction, focusing on the construction of major figures in Jewish culture. (After the October Revolution of 1917, emancipated Jews became full Soviet citizens of Jewish nationality, but the authorities suppressed the Zionist movement and eradicated the use of Hebrew and religious practice.) The authors deconstruct the terms "Jewish" and "cinema"-focusing on Jews as film industry workers, as viewers, and as subjects of films and documentaries-to undertake case studies within a broader context, thereby assuring the book's appeal not only for specialists but for a general reader. Enhanced by expertly selected iconographic images and rigorously indexed filmographies, Kinojudaica provides an exceptionally valuable resource, opening new spaces for future research in an otherwise underserved area offilm scholarship, an achievement surely worthy of future translations for non-Francophone readers.