The Monster Among Us is about the alarming rise of anti-Semitism in Europe.
The film includes excerpts from almost 200 hours of footage shot in Germany, Hungary, France, England, Holland and Belgium. Anti-Semitism has surfaced on university campuses, in the media, on the streets, on the Internet, at political demonstrations and in seemingly innocent social situations.
It examines this wave of anti-Semitism against European Jews and their institutions, mainly from the point of view of those who have directly experienced the violence or live every day with the threat.
THE MONSTER AMONG US aired on The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The film has been screened around the world at major conferences and on college campuses. It personalizes the anti-Semitic feelings and actions in Europe, bringing to light the stories behind the headlines.
THE MONSTER AMONG US aired on The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The film has been screened around the world at major conferences and on college campuses. It personalizes the anti-Semitic feelings and actions in Europe, bringing to light the stories behind the headlines.
The lnspiration for the Film
Cynthia’s sister’s husband is French. He has been living in the United States for 30 years, but his parents, siblings and cousins live in Paris. The Mondells had been hearing reports of vandalism of Jewish cemeteries and synagogues and physical attacks on Jews in France. When they mentioned these to their brother-in-law, he shocked them by revealing that his own family was considering leaving the country.
So they wondered: How serious a problem is this? ls it just in France alone or it happening in other European countries? How could this be going on in Europe again – just 60 years after the Holocaust?
A trip to Berlin in April of 2004 (to a conference on anti-Semitism in Europe today, hosted by the German government) was the beginning of a journey that took them to 6 different countries, where they recorded 170 hours of interviews, with both Jews and non-Jews, experts and regular folks, expressing their concerns and feelings.
The result is The Monster Among Us.
