A Film Under Threat

A Film Under Threat: "Among Neighbors" and the History Some Want Silenced

Circle Cinema is proud to announce it will show a new documentary, "Among Neighbors"  by award-winning filmmaker Yoav Potash. The film, which will show Wednesday, February 18 at 7 pm, tells the story of a town where history has been silenced, and an eyewitness to murder speaks out in search of the boy she loved. 

Combining evocative hand-drawn animation with revelatory interviews and verité footage, “Among Neighbors” examines Jewish-Polish relations through the story of Gniewoszów, a small, rural town where Jews and Polish Catholics lived side by side for centuries. At its core, the film zeroes in on the last living Holocaust survivor from the town, and an aging eyewitness who saw Jews murdered there—not by Nazis, but by her own Polish neighbors.

What is the story behind "Among Neighbors"?

Today, all signs of Jewish life in the small town of Gniewoszów have vanished—even the Jewish tombstones disappeared, having been stolen from the destroyed cemetery. Now, a lifetime after the Holocaust, award-winning American filmmaker Yoav Potash ("Crime After Crime," Sundance Film Festival) unearths the deepest mysteries of this town, revealing both the love and the hatred that local Poles felt for their Jewish neighbors. The town’s oldest residents, in the twilight of their days, divulge secrets held their entire lives, and their stories come to life in stunning animated scenes, accented by artful touches of magical realism.

Ultimately, their collective, heartfelt account lays bare the manner in which ordinary Polish townsfolk made life and death choices about their Jewish neighbors, with decisions that reflect both the very best and the very worst of human nature. As this history is now questioned and whitewashed in favor of a more "patriotic" and politically popular narrative, many news outlets in Poland, the office of Poland’s president is attempting to ban “Among Neighbors.” “It’s sadly predictable,” American filmmaker Yoav Potash told the Hollywood Reporter. “My film is falling into an ongoing campaign that the far right in Poland has launched over the last decade to whitewash aspects of World War II.” This makes it all the more urgent to screen the film and confront this history openly—before political pressure determines which truths are allowed to be told.

The evening will conclude with a post-film discussion with Rabbi Joshua Ellis, who spent a decade living and working in Poland as both a Rabbi and Jewish educator.

"Among Neighbors" Event Information:

What: Among Neighbors
When: Wednesday, February 18 at 7 pm
Where: Circle Cinema, 10 S. Lewis Ave., Tulsa, OK 74104
Cost: $12
Tickets: Online at: https://www.circlecinema.org/ or at the box office.

"Among Neighbors" is presented by the Oklahoma Jewish Film Festival (OKJFF), a program of Jewish Tulsa (aka the Jewish Federation of Tulsa) in partnership with the Circle Cinema. The 12th Oklahoma Jewish Film Festival is March 22-29, 2026 at the Circle Cinema. The mission of OKJFF is to use the power of compelling stories to bring people of all religions and cultures together to enrich, educate, and entertain about the global Jewish experience.

For more information about A Film Under Threat: Among Neighbors and the History Some Want Silenced, visit JewishTulsa.org