ESCAPE TO SHANGHAI Dir: Chen Yifei
1999, documentary, 70 minutes (1999) 
One of Shanghai’s many special features is its rich Jewish legacy. One of the few places that would admit travellers without visas, Shanghai became the port of last refuge for as many as 40,000 Jewish refugees between 1937 and 1939. Crammed into the Hongkou district, a Jewish ghetto sprung up in Asia.
Shanghai artist, fashion designer, and filmmaker Chen Yifei’s documentary, Escape to Shanghai pays tribute to this episode in Shanghai’s history by following the violinist Heinz Grunberg. After fifty years, Mr. Grunberg returns to Shanghai for the first time and visits his boyhood haunts, places replete with bittersweet memories. Tragically, Chen Yifei died suddenly last year at the age of 59, and so with this screening, we also pay tribute to him.
|
Film 