Schocken, On The Verge Of Consensus

Seattle Jewish Film Festival “Re-Zooms”
March 4-18 • Tickets On Sale Now
During the two-week run, SJFF will feature 18 streaming films to lift your spirits, rouse belly laughs, and make you smile from ear to ear—from beginning to end, from Opening Night to Closing Weekend. Comedies, love stories, tales of triumph and overcoming adversity will joyously bring our community virtually together again, even though we’re far apart.

Schocken, On The Verge Of Consensus
Film Sponsored by HNT & The Schocken Family
Streaming March 8-11
Before WWII, Salman Schocken was known as the king of department stores in Germany, owning 22 locations and employing 6,000 people. But the businessman and philanthropist was also a man of letters: he owned a unique collection of 60,000 rare books in German and Hebrew, and in 1931 founded a modern publishing house committed to publishing Judaica and Jewish authors such as Franz Kafka, Martin Buber, and Elie Wiesel.

A lifelong supporter of the Nobel laureate S.Y. Agnon, a central figure of modern Hebrew fiction, Schocken also bought the Haaretz newspaper and standardized Hebrew font type. Ahead of his time, Schocken was a maverick modernist in love with tradition. His secular humanist worldview embraced the belief that democracy meant cultural access and aesthetics for all. In that vein, the filmmakers and editors have done an incredible job aesthetically, transitioning from black-and-white footage with narration to colorful scenes from the present day, and they use animation to fill up the empty Schocken stores and structures once inhabited by splendid objects and people.

Ten free tickets are available to HNT members, first come first served. Email Rebecca@h-nt.org to claim yours!