‘Bukharian Jews of New York’ is a photographic exploration of Bukharian Jewish youth in their formative years, when their identities and worldviews take shape. More than two decades after a major wave of immigration from Central Asia, there is now a generation of young Bukharian Jews born in America. Photographer George Itzhak creates evocative portraits of children that capture private introspective moments, and scenes of engagement in communal spaces and gatherings. The Bukharian Jewish Diaspora is diverse and multifaceted, but the slice of life in Queens, New York presented in these photos offers a glimpse into a generation dealing with the ever present challenges of familial expectations, language, influences, and assimilation.
The project launch event took place on June 10, 2015 at JCC Manhattan.
The program began with two shorts films:
‘Making Bakhsh in Rego Park’ presents the intimate and nostalgia-laden process of preparing a traditional Bukharian Jewish meal in a Rego Park kitchen. (5 mins)
‘Aron Aronov and the Bukharian Museum’ takes us to the top floor of a yeshiva in Queens, where Aron Aronov has gathered unique items from the culture and heritage of the Bukharian Jews. But maintaining a museum single-handedly has its challenges. (5 mins)
George’s website: https://vimeo.com/georgeitzhak
Photo & video blog: https://www.facebook.com/hashtaggosha
Fellows
George Itzhak Bukharian Jews of New York George Itzhak is a filmmaker, photographer, and storyteller originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He works in both narrative and documentary, and has several projects in development and production that deal with issues of Russian immigration, Jewish life and culture, and the history and people of the Middle-East. His latest projects include Reading Tehran in Tel-Aviv, a documentary that premiered at the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival, and Broccoli, a Russian-language short film premiered in the summer of 2014. George began his career in television news with internships at NBC, a stint at the Sochi Olympics, and he currently works at NBC’s Nightly News.
