In Search of Ladino

A documentary film. It is a film about language, memory and identity. The Film follows Ladino speakers, their culture, their memories and hopes for the future of their mother tongue. In Search of Ladino is a forgotten landmark of Holocaust cinematography, as it is one of the earliest films to bring to the screen Ladino speaking Holocaust survivors in Israel, and it provides us with rare documentation of their testimonies and songs. The film was meant to be part of a trilogy about languages: Hebrew, Yiddish and Ladino, but Perlov only managed to make the first film. Perlov avoids being didactic: he focuses his glance on the faces of the people, he listens carefully to their stories and songs, and he creates a film that brings back to life the richness and diversity of Ladino culture.