In the Shadow

In the ShadowIn director David Ondล™รญฤekโ€™s film, โ€œIn the Shadow,โ€ a simple jewelry store heist unravels a larger Cold War conspiracy against Czechoslovakian Jews. The story takes the form of a noir political thriller, and was the Czech Republicโ€™s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for the 85th Academy Awards.

Honest police detective Jarda Hakl (Ivan Trojan) is asked to investigate a seemingly mundane robbery at a goldsmithโ€™s shop one rainy night in 1950s Prague. When state secret-police suddenly seize control of the case and pin the crime on Jewish immigrants who have been accused of running aid to Israel, Hakl suspects anti-Semitic scapegoating. Waging an uphill battle against both Major Zenke (Sebastian Koch), an East German agent specializing in so-called โ€œZionist crime,โ€ and the Soviet-corrupted Czech security apparatus, Hakl is dauntless in his quest for the truth, even as it threatens his colleagues, country and family.

Writer-director Ondล™รญฤek delivers a powerful denouncement of the notorious Jewish Show Trials that condemned many innocent people to death during the Communist era.

โ€œIn the Shadowโ€ is the winner of the Directors to Watch Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and nine Czech Academy Awards including Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Film.

โ€œIn the Shadowโ€ will have its New York State premiere on Thursday, April 17 at 7:30PM at JCC Rockland in W. Nyack, as part of the 11th JCC Rockland International Jewish Film Festival. Purchasing tickets in advance saves $2, so go to jccrockland.org or call 845-362-4400 x 100.

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