TORAH TROPICAL - DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT - EZRA AXELROD // Torah Tropical takes place in Cali, my adoptive hometown in Southwestern Colombia. In local parlance it’s called “la sucursal del cielo,” or “heaven’s outpost.” From a bird’s eye view, it really does look like a Promised Land of natural abundance, situated in the most fertile valley of the Andes between two 15,000-foot mountain ranges.

But Cali continues to be the epicenter of the Drug War’s enduring legacy of displacement, urban decay and homicide, driving an annual Exodus of caleños to seek better lives elsewhere. In early 2021, a local artist named Heidi Paster introduced me to a peculiar variation on this pervasive immigration story when she showed me her Washington Post Magazine photo essay, “The Emerging Jews of Colombia.” 

Her images portrayed convert Orthodox Jewish communities in Cali that were part of a Latin American phenomenon of ex-Evangelical Christians who renounce Jesus and dedicate their lives to reaching Israel. My husband and co-producer David and I often discussed how much the Cauca Valley mirrors Israel-Palestine, not just in its size, cultural diversity and mystical allure, but in its cycles of violence, displacement, and erasure. In Heidi’s photos, we saw fascinating, intersectional parallels between the Middle East and Colombia brought to life in a provocative and cinematic way. Weeks later, we began turning her work into a feature documentary.

As a secular Jew who has spent 20 years assimilating into Colombian culture, I never expected that I’d take a deep-dive into my spiritual heritage with Orthodox converts in my city’s ganglands. Unlike the Jewish context I grew up in, our protagonists’ home didn’t have the shadows of the Holocaust hanging over it, and in their place were declarations about Hashem’s glory and the blessings of Orthodox life. Listening to Isska and Manajem speak, I wondered, “What do they mean when they say they feel Hashem? As a Jew, have I ever felt Hashem? Through making this film, could we elicit an experience of the divine, and an interrogation of our own spiritual health, both as filmmakers and viewers?”

Jimmy, Gloria Nancy and I combined our diverse gazes to answer these questions through four tones of storytelling: cinematic verité scenes, immersive rituals and landscapes, intimate interviews that range from comic to tearful, and a soundtrack that converses with the multiple worlds that collide in our film. With these tones we travelled between worship and work, light and darkness, inclusion and exclusion – a cinematic portrayal of the cosmology that defines Isska and Menajem’s world. 

Torah Tropical comes to audiences the same year as 100 Years of Solitude. This is the first time we see filmmaking resources employed at this scale in 100% Colombian productions. The result is world-class, thought-provoking entertainment that brings audiences into our unique Colombian universe. Torah Tropical achieved the highest documentary production standards in history for an independent, 100% Colombian production, with 90% Colombian talent. The invaluable relationships we’ve built with international mentors and funders has been key to featuring Torah Tropical in some of the world’s most important cultural spaces like Lincoln Center in New York City. The film continues to attract diverse audiences to its festival screenings, and recently won the audience award for its Colombian premiere at the Cali International Film Festival. 

The authentic love and hope transmitted by Isska and Menajem for each other and their daughters is our offering to cinema-goers at a time of so much conflict and sorrow. With the star-power and piety of Old Testament heroes, our protagonists demonstrate to the world what it means to have faith at a time of crisis. They inspire us to explore the light and darkness of our spiritual traditions, as well as the practical tools they offer for following a path of peace. From Isska’s river mikvahs and ethereal singing to Manejam’s rythmic handiwork like baking challah or practicing Hebrew calligraphy, Torah Tropical shows the rich mystical practices of their adopted faith, employed in a relatable story of healing. When faced with catastrophe at the film’s climax, Isska and Menajem turn to these rituals as a lifeline to rebuilding their family’s broken foundation.

These 100 minutes with Isska and Menajem, and their two magnetic young daughters, are an entertainment event that goes to the heart of our collective Latino family’s search for belonging and a chance to live in peace. With deep reflection and larger-than-life performances, Isska, Menajem, Ruth and Jaia embody the chutzpah and grit of Latin Americans, captivating audiences around the world with their enchanting sincerity and unique perspective.