Jewish film festival’s winter series opens Sunday in Williamsburg

The 22nd annual Virginia Peninsula Jewish Film Festival opens its winter series Sunday with a film that tells the little-known story of a family that once owned Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

The festival, sponsored by Temple Beth El of Williamsburg, is free to the public. Sunday’s film will be shown at 2 p.m. in the Williamsburg Regional Library.

“The Levys of Monticello” is a 71-minute-long documentary released last year about the Levy family, which, according to the film distributor, “owned and carefully preserved Monticello for nearly a century — far longer than Jefferson or his descendants. The remarkable story of the Levy family also intersects with the rise of antisemitism that runs throughout the course of American history.”

According to festival organizers, the film will be of interest not only from the perspective of local Jewish history, but “also in the context of Virginia history and the dissonance of slavery present in a society identifying democracy as an ideal.”

Monticello, located outside Charlottesville, was designed by Jefferson and served as as his home from 1770 until his death in 1826. It had fallen into disrepair by the time the Founding Father died, and his heirs sold it because of mounting debt. Members of the Levy family devoted themselves to the restoration and preservation of the sprawling plantation home, saving it from ruin on two separate occasions, according to a synopsis of the film.

“This film documents a missing chapter of American and Virginian history, and confronts the stain of ongoing racism and antisemitism that persist as a part of our national narrative,” stated a news release about the festival’s opener.

The film will be followed by a light dessert reception.

Kim O’Brien Root, kimberly.root@virginiamedia.com, 757-603-3671