L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin

The unlikely story of a Soviet attempt to create a Jewish homeland in the hinterlands of Asian Russian, near the Chinese border. Interviews (in Russian, Yiddish, and English) with some of the would-be colonists round out a rather bland voiceover by Ron Perlman. Unfortunately, while the stories are individually very interesting, the film lacks resonance and coherence and is somewhat unprofessionally presented. There are about ten things I could suggest to improve the overall quality of the documentary, but a few in short: Tell us the names of people! Let a story emerge, rather than jumping back and forth! Give us more hard facts on current life in the Jewish Autonomous Okrug! Tone down the Soviet era propaganda film/music excerpts!

Anyway, the story of the Jewish Autonomous Okrug is a fascinating one, but the film could have been greatly improved.