"I expected the film to help broaden people's understanding and compassion, and perhaps, it can bring some softness to the hard hearts," Joey Magidow, an attendee told Xinhua at the premiere
The event, held Saturday at Harmony Gold Preview House on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles to a capacity audience, invoked thoughtful discussions about historical events and cultural exchanges and how friendship can build bridges between cultures and across borders.
Iris Mann, an American writer who attended the screening, praised the kindness and hospitality given to Jewish people in Shanghai in the early 20th century, saying, "The Chinese were very welcoming. And in return, it was mostly Jewish musicians who introduced China to classical music."
"I think it's important that people know about the help China gave the Jews at that time when no one else in the entire world would," she said.
The film recalls the stories of Jewish performers and composers who had immigrated or fled to Shanghai from the 1920s to 1940s. Shanghai, a bustling Eastern metropolis, received many groups of Jewish exiles from Europe, many fleeing Nazi persecution. These immigrants included over 400 Jewish musicians and composers, many quite prominent in their fields, who continued to expand their musical careers in China.
The documentary focused on several top Jewish musicians who called Shanghai home then, including composer Aaron Avshalomov, violinist and conductor Arrigo Foa, composer Ernest Bloch, and others.
David Avshalomov, the grandson of Aaron Avshalomov, told Xinhua that the premiere was an honor for his revered grandfather. "My grandfather loved the Chinese people and their music and devoted his life to composing classical music that honored both Chinese and Western cultural traditions."
At the premiere, Jade Ellis, an IT executive who had lived with his family in Shanghai's modern Jewish community for six years, shared his experience, hoping to revisit their memories of Shanghai through the film.
"When we saw in the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum all the Jews who were saved by Shanghai in that time period, I think that was a very positive, meaningful thing."
Xu Shen, host of the film and an expert historian who helped initiate the project, credited Jewish musicians and composers living in Shanghai then with taking Chinese music to a higher level and being instrumental in introducing Chinese music to the world.
Xu hoped to continue exploring and documenting the mutual influence between the Jewish and Chinese people in architecture, medicine and academia.
Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles Guo Shaochun told Xinhua, "We hope that this film will help us share the story of the friendship between the Chinese people and the Jewish people and express the character of the Chinese nation as open, friendly and peace-loving."
