Celebrate Hanukkah With 8 Films About Jewish Life in Latin America

The history of Jewish immigration to Latin America remains unknown to many, but in the 1920s and 1930s many countries, especially Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, opened their borders to Jews after the U.S. imposed quotas on European arrivals. Later in the 1940s, as many were fleeing Nazi Germany’s takeover of Europe, there were new restrictions placed on visas granted to Jews  — still, it is estimated that more than 20,000 Holocaust survivors resettled in places like Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Panama among other countries. Today, there are half a million people of Jewish descent living in Latin America.

Since the majority of Latin American countries are almost exclusively Christian (Catholic, evangelicals, and everything in between) our Jewish Latinos tend to get ignored, especially at this time of year. So, we put together this list of movies that give us a glimpse of Jewish life in Latin America. There are eight films, one for each day of Hanukkah. It’s a mix of comedy, drama, and documentaries — and we snuck a ninth movie in there, for that extra menorah candle.