Through interviews and archival footage, Shared Legacies tells the story of the coalition and friendship between the Jewish and African-American communities during the Civil Rights Movement. The story is told through first and second-hand accounts from Holocaust survivors, members of the King family, and prominent political and religious figures.
A discussion about the film was recorded with Barbara Merson, MJFF Interim Executive Director and Professor Robert Weisbrot, who teaches American history at Colby College. Professor Weisbrot is the author of Freedom Bound: A History of America’s Civil Rights Movement (1990). Listen to the discussion here.
“One of the strengths of the film is being able to see and hear what we might have only read about – such as Rabbi Prinz speaking just before Martin Luther King at the March on Washington,” Professor Weisbrot
“We have a template in our history, and now we have to take the coalition that we developed and to expand it with the coalition of the younger generation. The soul of America is at stake,” Clarence Jones, Dr. King’s friend and speechwriter. The Forward
Film Details: Documentary/Dir.: Dr. Shari Rogers/2020/97 min
Festivals: Atlanta JFF, Boston JFF, New York JFF, Miami JFF, Cleveland JFF, Edmonton JFF, Boulder Int’l FF, JFilm Festival Pittsburgh, Social Justice Film Festival Sacramento, Toronto JFF
