El Cine Mireles will host Atlanta premier of "Tijuana Jews'

July 7, 2005

Atlanta, GA El Cine Mireles has been chosen to host the Atlanta premier of Issac Artenstein’s documentary "Tijuana Jews" on Friday, August 26th 2005. Artenstein, who directed "Ballad of an Unsung Hero" (1984) and "Break of Dawn" (1988), and produced "Love Always" (1996) and "A Day Without a Mexican" (2004), and producer Jude Artenstein are scheduled to attend the Atlanta premier and a reception in their honor. The reception is scheduled to begin at 7:00 in the evening followed by the screening of the documentary. The Artensteins will be available for a discussion about the documentary following the screening.

This documentary is valuable in that it casts light on a group of people that are relatively unknown. According to the filmmaker, there are some 600 to 800 Latino Jewish families in the San Diego/Tijuana region who can trace their roots to different countries in Europe and the Middle East.

Tijuana Jews, which took five years to produce, had its worldwide premiere at the San Diego Jewish Film Festival. It will also run during the San Diego Latino Film Festival and from there will travel to Los Angeles; Tucson, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Barcelona, Spain. It will also likely be aired by San Diego public television station KPBS.

Growing up Jewish in Mexico, director Isaac Artenstein found reactions of surprise, even disbelief, from many people north of the border: they had no idea there were Jews in Mexico, and especially in Tijuana. Tijuana's dark legend continues to fire up the imagination with stories of free-flowing liquor, cheap narcotics, beautiful senoritas and black velvet paintings. Tijuana Jews is an authentic and living testimony set against conceptions and misconceptions of this near-mythic border city.

The director is working on two new projects, a film based on the lives of photographers Edward Weston and Tina Modotti, and another that takes place in Tijuana and was inspired by Josef Von Stenberg's 1930 film "The Blue Angel."

For additional information about this cultural event, please contact Laura Mireles at 404-281-8257. El Cine Mireles is located at 3378 Canton Road in Marietta, Georgia.