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Saba and Savta is a 60-minute, feature, documentary film about a Jewish-Italian couple, married for 50-plus years, searching for their lost family history while preserving what culture they know, before their memory dissipates. Sheldon and Joan Treibitz, residents of Lake County, FL for 20 years travel back to Brooklyn, New York to visit the Treibitz family cemetery plot for potentially the last time. Joan and Sheldon take viewers and their granddaughter, Shelley, the director of the film, along a familiar route to their homecoming, a drive they've driven for over twenty years. While traveling to New York City, they stop to visit family, who once lived in close quarters with them in Brooklyn when they were a young couple. Throughout their travels they revisit their past lives in Brooklyn and visit their family's first documented history in the United States, Ellis Island, rewriting and sharing their past with the future generation of their family. Through the eyes and memories of Joan and Sheldon, an exploration of family ensues as they are known as the archivists and genealogists of the family; mapping, documenting and archiving photographs, documents, licenses and films relating to the family as there is no record of their family before booking their passages to America in the early 1900s. This story will unfold and immerse viewers in the life of an untraditional Jewish family searching for a family's roots while trying to rebuild lost connections. Joan and Sheldon shed light on the modern orthodox, conservative and reformed Judaism movements in America, having belonged to each community at a time in their lives. Despite the changes in how they practice Judaism their faith in god, family, and each other never waiver no matter the difficulties they know lie ahead and in the past.

Support the making of this film by contributing to our crowdsource funding campaign.

 

Every dollar you contribute will save lives by helping us make this film possible. Sheldon and Joan's story is unlike many 1st generation American's, and your support will help us share their story with the world. Your contribution will help us raise awareness about lost and erased Jewish and Italian American histories, and help us to rewrite a new history to leave for generations to come.

 

Your contribution and support will help us offset the costs of travel and make this film that will bridge gaps in history, memories, lost family connections, and educate people about the diverse voices in Jewish idenities. You can be apart of this community that shares knoweldge and uncover a generation of Jewish and Italian family's lost history.

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