COMING IN 2024
A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE “NEW JEWS” OF CALI, COLOMBIA
Supported by Jewish Story Partners
In a tropical paradise turned dystopian by the War on Drugs, struggling Colombian parents Isska (formerly Paola Andrea) and Menajem (formerly Oscar Javier) reinvent themselves as Orthodox Jews who believe God is calling them home to the Promised Land. Over the course of a year in which reality and religious parable collide, Isska and Menajem risk everything in an attempt to make Aliyah to Israel, putting their family and faith to the ultimate test.
Story Background
Jewish-American photographer Heidi Paster Harf, who lived in Cali for nearly 20 years, stumbled upon a strange phenomenon in this war-torn city when she was picked up by a taxi driver adorned in traditional Orthodox attire. In a country where Jews are rare, she learned that he was part of a movement of ex-Evangelical Christians who renounce Jesus as a false messiah, and dedicate their lives to converting to Orthodox Judaism, calling themselves “los emergentes” or the “emergent ones.”
Heidi spent several years photographing the convert community of Beit David, based in Cali’s El Guabal neighborhood, and in 2021, published a photo essay “The Emerging Jews of Colombia” in The Washington Post Magazine. She enlisted Cali-based production duo ThisTopia (Ezra Axelrod and David Restrepo) and filmmakers Jimmy Ferguson and Gloria Nancy Monsalve to bring the story to film.
Team Bios
HEIDI PASTER HARF / EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / PRODUCER Heidi is a Jewish-American photographer who has spent the last 15 years photographing daily life in Cali, Colombia, where she lived for two decades. Her work focuses on culturally significant, yet overlooked communities, and her photo essay about the lives of the emerging Jews of Cali was published in April 2021 in The Washington Post Magazine. The photo series was exhibited at the Jewish Museum of Florida and is now part of their permanent collection. Heidi brings to Torah Tropical a profound knowledge of the importance of this story and an intimate relationship with the subjects of the film. Heidi overseas the film’s fundraiser activities and advises on the project’s creative and narrative scope.
EZRA AXELROD / PRODUCER / DIRECTOR Creative Director of ThisTopia, Ezra produces film projects focused on countercultures, queer ecology, regenerative psychoactive plant economies, and social and environmental justice. Ezra has spent nearly two decades exploring Colombian narratives and settled permanently in the country in 2017. Originally from La Grande, Oregon, he is a music composer for film, TV, and contemporary dance trained at The Royal College of Music in London. He recently composed the soundtrack for Pepe Cáceres, a Top-10 Colombian box office release in January 2023. He has also worked as a digital content producer and social media strategist at Ogilvy PR and DawBell PR in London. In Torah Tropical, Ezra oversees the articulation of the creative and narrative vision, is a member of the script-writing and direction team, conducts interviews and research, and leads the core team’s overarching creative process at all stages of production and post-production. He is also the composer of the film’s soundtrack.
DAVID RESTREPO / PRODUCER / EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Co-founder of ThisTopia, David is an economic, cultural, and environmental innovator from Cali, focused on developing community regeneration initiatives in Southwest Colombia. He is also a researcher at the Center for the Study of Security and Drugs (CESED) at the University of the Andes in Bogotá. After 10 years working as a strategy consultant in London, where he advised Fortune 500 companies such as Coca Cola, Danone, and the Hearst Corporation, he returned to Colombia to spearhead transformational projects such as developing the legal markets for cannabis and coca leaf, thereby ending the catastrophic War on Drugs. In Torah Tropical, David works alongside Ezra articulating the creative and narrative vision, and carries out general production and management activities.
JIMMY FERGUSON / DIRECTOR / DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Jimmy is a multicultural, award-winning film artist with deep experience in all stages of production spanning fiction/narrative, documentary, commercials, and contemporary art. His narrative and documentary shorts have premiered at Mill Valley, DOC NYC, Maryland, Salento International, and Newport Beach Film Festivals. Jimmy’s honors include: LA Filmmaker of the Year (2008), a Jerome Foundation grant (2014), and a QCA Artist Commission (2019). He participated in IFP's Project Forum (2013) and EAVE’s Ties That Bind (2017). Jimmy won a CINDY Gold Award for his #NotAFan campaign against domestic violence (2017). His debut hybrid feature Am I Don Quixote? is slated to premiere in 2023. Jimmy is a current member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective. Jimmy has a keen interest in contemporary spirituality, is fluent in Spanish, and is passionate about exploring Colombian narratives. In Torah Tropical, Jimmy directs with Ezra Axelrod and Gloria Nancy Monsalve, serves as director of photography, and is a member of the script-writing team.
GLORIA NANCY MONSALVE / DIRECTOR / WRITER Colombian script-writer and director Glory Nancy Monsalve’s film career started in 1998 when she shot the making-of documentary for Victor Gaviria’s iconic film The Rose Seller. Since then, she has worked closely with Gaviria as a script-writer, including 2014’s The Animal’s Wife, and Sosiego, currently in production. Gloria Nancy has served as script-writer for a wide variety of Colombian films and TV series and is the winner of multiple awards across Latin America, including Colombia’s India Catalina Award for Best Film (Los asombrosos días de Guillermo). For the past five years, she has been establishing a co-direction and writing alliance with Jimmy Ferguson, and the two are developing a fiction feature called Ximena, about the confluence of risky underground plastic surgery and sex work in Medellín. In Torah Tropical, Gloria Nancy is part of the script-writing and direction team.
ETIENNE BOUSSAC / EDITOR. One of Cali and Colombia’s most renowned editors, Etienne has edited films such as Embrace of the Serpent (nominated Best Foreign Film 2016 Academy Awards, Winner of the CICAE Award Quinzaine des Realisateurs 2015 Cannes Film Festival). Other films include Victor Gaviria’s The Animal's Wife (2016), the documentary Silence of the Guns (2017), the first-ever documentary to open the Cartagena International Film Festival. He has been the Lead Editor of TV series for Fox, Netflix, and Amazon. He has won several awards such as the Platino Ibero-American Film Award (2016) for Best Editing for Embrace of the Serpent, the Coral Award for Best Editing for Embrace of the Serpent at the Havana International Film Festival (2016), the Macondo Award for Best Editing (2015) and the Silver Biznaga for Best Editing for The Animal's Wife at the Malaga Film Festival (2017).
For inquiries regarding the production of Torah Tropical please contact
Ezra Axelrod / Producer
thistopiastudios@gmail.com
+57 315-801-1545
Heidi Paster Harf / Executive Producer
heidipaster@yahoo.com
+1 917-518-1476