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With antisemitism in France escalating since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, a short film portraying a Jewish family grappling with fear will be broadcast on every French TV network ahead of the UEFA Euro Championship Final on July 14, Bastille Day. Directed by Katia Lewkowicz (“French Dolls”), the short film captures the many ways in which the rise of antisemitic hate incidents has affected the everyday lives of Jews living in France.

The film revolves around the Cohen family and shows how each of its members is affected. They begin hiding their Judaism and are compelled to remove their last name everywhere they can, take out the mezuzahs from their door frames, pull the curtains when they gather for Jewish holidays and avoid saying anything suggesting they are Jewish while in public. A friend of the family, who is a young Black French man, witnesses all this with shock and uproar.



The short film was produced by the agency Marcel under the initiative of Arthur Essebag , a fame TV host and producer, and Maurice Levy , the president of Publicis Group. Essebag, who runs the banner Satisfaction, said he wanted the film to express the “solitude and fear of French Jews since Oct. 7.

Citizens, like this family who are obligated to hide their identity and whose every life has sadly become synonymous with ‘Live hidden if you want to live happily.’ Essebag said the film was “aimed at everyone, from the silent majority to the youngest, for whom fr.

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