TORONTO, Hot Docs is pleased to announce that Doc Soup, its popular monthly film series, will screen the Canadian premiere of SOUVENIRS (Israel, 2006, 75 min) at the Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West) on Wednesday, April 4 at 6:30 and 9:15 pm. From Israeli directors Shahar Cohen and Halil Efrat, the quest to find ‘souvenirs’ in this charming documentary reveals a powerful and fascinating historical tale.

Shahar, an unemployed filmmaker, discovers that his 82 year old father, Sleiman, who had served in the Jewish Brigade during World War II, may have left behind some ‘souvenirs’ – by having impregnated two Dutch women. Sleiman and Shahar then set out on a journey together following the trail of the Jewish Brigade, beginning in Israel, through Italy, Germany and concluding in Holland, in search of the lost off-springs, lost love, and the consequences of courage. Ending with a surprising discovery, the film also documents young, idealistic, and courageous men who left their homeland to take part in a war that changed the course of human history.

Winner of the Best Documentary Award at the 2006 Doc Aviv Festival, SOUVENIRS cleverly exposes, with humor and compassion, the complexities of a father-son relationship juxtaposed with lost moments of glory from World War II; while also raising universal questions about the tension between myths of bravery and reality, and between memory and historical veracity.