NESHOMA

Neshoma is set in Amsterdam between World War 1 & II, when one out of ten of the city’s residents was Jewish. Seventeen-year-old Rusha lives in the Jewish quarter with her father, grandmother, and younger brother. Her older brother Max has emigrated to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). In her letters to Max, Rusha recounts daily life in the city.

The film sets off right after World War I, a period full of confidence in the future. This optimistic spirit is put to the test by severe economic depression and the rise of fascism, culminating in the occupation of The Netherlands. Jewish humor and lust for life, the lechaim, provide perspective and an indestructible optimism, especially in the face of adversity.

Against this backdrop, Rusha grows from a young girl into an independent woman, bravely navigating between the ideas of her socialist father and the religious convictions of her husband. The outbreak of the Second World War forces her to make an impossible choice.

Through Rusha's letters, a colorful portrait emerges of proud diamond cutters; hustling traders on the flea market; cabaret artists with songs everyone can sing along to; entrepreneurs erecting department stores, hotels, and cinemas; and city administrators commissioning top architects to design social housing. These stories illustrate the importance of the Jewish community to the city.

Neshoma is not only about the lives of those who are no longer here, but also tells of what they have left behind: the Jewish soul in the pores of Amsterdam, the Neshoma.