Voyages (1999)

Director:

Emmanuel Finkiel

Writer:

Emmanuel Finkiel (written by)

Release Date:

22 September 1999 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Awards:

7 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Shulamit Adar	...	Rivka
Liliane Rovère	...	Regine
Esther Gorintin	...	Vera
Natan Cogan	...	Graneck
Mosko Alkalai	...	Shimon (as Moscu Alcalay)
Maurice Chevit	...	Mendelbaum
Michael Shillo	...	Monsieur Katz (as Michaël Shillo)
Abraham Leber	...	Mr. Zalcberg
Alain Zylbering	...	Max
Patrick Lizana	...	Henri
Magdelena Czartoryjska	...	Guide
Reuven Shefer	...	Lev (as Reuven Sheffer)
Avrom Perel	...	Millo
Eva Judkiewiecz	...	Mme. Zalcberg
Paula Levy	...	Mme. Sonia
Michel Feldman	...	M. Sonia
Paul Morgensztern	...	Nathan
Samuel Grinbaum	...	Sholem
Muriel Brenner	...	Student
Zygmundt Szatkowski	...	Driver
Henri Haut	...	Albert
Michel Zelany	...	Doctor
Max Tzwangue	...	Rabbi
Isaac Sharry
Wlodzimierz Sztejn	...	Cantor
Borys Fajngold
Armand Finkel	...	Flag Man
Madeleine Goldstejn	...	Mme. Goldstejn
Israel Goldstejn	...	M. Goldstejn
Freddy Earle	...	Jo Bernstein
Leopold Kozlowski	...	Pianist
Albert Grinberg	...	Drummer
Claude Mouton	...	Double Bass
Zwi Kanar	...	Mime (as Zvi Kanar)
Frederic Ambrosio	...	Doctor
Katia Wyszkop	...	Dora
Pierre Benque	...	Dora's Husband
Lola Wyszkop	...	Dora's Daughter
Simon Bouchoucha	...	Dora's Son
Maya Trotta	...	Baby
Vladimir Friedman	...	Felix
Natalia Voitulevitch-Manor	...	Lea
Dan Manor	...	Felix's Son
Guita Gruzina	...	Vera's Cousin
Alma Fogiel	...	Israeli Guide
Doron Avrahami	...	Taxi Driver
Sasha Chernichovsky	...	Hotel Employee
Hagit Manor	...	Young Girl

Directed by
Emmanuel Finkiel

Writing credits
Emmanuel Finkiel		(written by)

Produced by
Yael Fogiel	....	producer (as Yaël Fogiel)
Laetitia Gonzalez	....	associate producer
Edna Kowarsky	....	executive producer: Eden Production, Israel
Pawel Poppe	....	executive producer: Heritage Films, Poland
Lew Rywin	....	executive producer: Heritage Films, Poland

Film Editing by
Emmanuelle Castro

Casting by
Rodica Alkalai		(as Rodika Alcalay)
Nathaniele Esther
Stéphane Touitou

Makeup Department
Françoise Ben Soussan	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Jean-Jacques Albert	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nicolas Cambois	....	first assistant director
Laurent Herbiet	....	assistant director
Paolo Trotta	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dorota Ignaczak	....	production design: Poland
Simcha Speizer	....	production designer: Israel
Waldemar Weiss	....	construction coordinator
Katia Wyszkop	....	production design: Paris

Sound Department
Nicolas Becker	....	foley artist
William Flageollet	....	sound mixer
Pierre Gamet	....	sound: Poland and Paris
Olivier Goinard	....	assistant sound editor
Jean-Claude Laureux	....	sound editor
Pedro Marques	....	synchronization sound engineer
François Waledisch	....	sound: Israel

Camera and Electrical Department
Noam Eisenberg	....	key grip
Jean-Claude Larrieu	....	cinematographer: Israel
Hans Meier	....	cinematographer: Poland/Paris

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tzipi Anglisher	....	costume designer: Israel
Jeannine Gonzalez	....	costume designer: Poland/Paris

Editorial Department
Saskia Berthod	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Olivia Bruynoghe	....	script supervisor

Thanks
Chantal Akerman	....	thanks
Santiago Amigorena	....	thanks
Yvon Crenn	....	thanks
Christine Gozlan	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Les Films du Poisson
• Canal+ (co-production)
• arte France Cinéma (co-production)
• Heritage Films (co-production)
• Paradise Films (co-production)
• FCC (co-production)
• YMC Productions (co-production) (as YMC)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Studio Images 5 (participation)
• Eurimages (supported by)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Canal+ Polska (supported by)

Distributors

• MK2 Diffusion (1999) (France) (theatrical)
• La Sept Video (2000) (France) (DVD) (special edition)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Mongrel Media (Canada)
• New Yorker Films (2001) (USA) (subtitled)
• Primer Plano Film Group S.A. (Argentina)

Other Companies

• Mairie de Paris  support
• S.N.C.F.  support

Also Known As:

Tracks (Canada: English title) (cable TV title)

Runtime:

Canada:111 min | Hong Kong:115 min

Country:

France | Belgium | Poland

Language:

French | Yiddish | Hebrew | Russian | Polish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | France:U | Peru:PT | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

Les Films du Poisson

Movie Connections:

Featured in Casting (2001/I)

So what are we really searching for?

European films are more daring in challenging the "promised land".

Voyages presented a intriguingly woven tapestry, showcasing a cross section of the Jewish diaspora, most of them trying to come to terms with their holocaust-afflicted past.

Some were curious to see Auschwitz one last time (and wouldn't mind jumping onto a tour bus and heading down that same funereal path). Some were simply trying to find the loved ones they lost. The older ones shown varying degrees of accepting their painful experiences while the younger ones seemed forced by their elders to confront and perpetuate this seemingly irreconciliable history.

This film also obliterated the myth of the promised land. It shows a modern Israel where Yiddish is no longer a common language (as a result of mass immigration?) Most importantly, by focusing on elderly characters who have survived the traumas of WWII and endured a heavily "burdened" life, this film shed light on the differences in perspectives one may gain with age. Unlike high profile types like Natalie Portman, who reportedly declared she too would wanna move over to Israel as "a show of solidarity", the old woman in the end of this film just didn't see it that way. Without political intents, she just wanted to find a long lost cousin. That her fate in this "foreign" land turned out to be an uncertainty further punctuates the "point" of this film.

Voyages attempted to convey to us that there is no such thing as a "promised land". Most importantly, the Holocaust, however painful it had been, should be put behind us. Whatever short time we have left (or will have, depending on our age) might be better spent regaining or sustaining the love we have for those whom we really care for. However painful one's past might have been, one should best reconcile with such entangled chains and try to live the rest of one's life simply (without clinging onto too many "false" hopes - as the old woman in the last segment came to realize.)

While American Jews like Portman and Spielberg are politicising the grand aims of Israel or the intensive documentation of Holocaust survivors (both with questionable political agenda), this courageous film appealed for all to "let go" of their past wounds and present dogma and live the rest of our lives without baggages. Yesterday, you were sandwiched on a train to a concentration camp. Today, you took a tour bus down that same path for commemoration. Tomorrow, you may just be staring into a piece of wooden plywood, six feet under. Most important thing before tomorrow, is hence to just live for today.

This film exudes profound goodness. I love it.