Kulanu Online Speaker Series – Xueta Island Film
Event Timeline
Date: March 24, 2022
Time: 13:00 to 14:00
Timezone: EDT
Place: RSVP at kulanu.org/rsvp
Featuring Dani Rotstein, the Jewish community leader in Majorca and the Film’s Co-Director
Join us for a moderated Q&A session with Dani Rotstein as he discusses the film, Xueta Island, and shares a few scenes. Co-directors Felipe Wolokita and Ofer Laszewicki may also attend. (See more about the film below.)
We look forward to seeing you online on zoom. The link will be sent to you after you register.
Donations at any level are welcomed and appreciated. For $50 or more, you can be a sponsor of the event, and your name is listed at the event and on the website. All attendees and donors will be sent the zoom link.
Thank you for your support and see you soon!
About the Film
XUETA ISLAND
Five years ago, when an American (Dani) landed in Mallorca, Spain, he soon found himself working to revive the Mediterranean island’s Jewish community — surprisingly with the help of families forced to convert from Judaism to Christianity 500 years ago. Before the Spanish Inquisition, the island of Mallorca had a sizeable Jewish community. But that all changed under the Inquisition’s campaign of persecution that began in 1488 (four years before Jews’ expulsion from Spain) and was only officially abolished centuries later in 1834. Xueta Island explores this fascinating legacy of the Chuetas, a unique group of families on the island who are believed to be descendants of the Mallorca’s Inquisition-era Jewish population. Historians believe the Chuetas were forced to renounce their Judaism by the Catholic Church at the beginning of the 15th century in the years leading up to the Mallorcan Inquisition. These families were given the choice to either convert to Catholicism or face certain murder — they were not offered exile. In this film, the story of Mallorca unfolds by following Dani Rotstein, a Jewish-American ex-pat who moved to the island in 2014. He guides the viewer through Mallorca’s Jewish history, using discoveries from his ongoing investigation to try to figure out all the pieces of this compelling puzzle.