Lady in the Black Dress Film Screening

Film Screening: The Lady in The Black Dress, Followed by a virtual discussion with Professor Lilach Rosenberg-Friedman

Thursday, Feb. 12, 8:00 am - 9:50 am, Hubbard Hall G29, 964 Hubbard Rd.

  

Ada Sereni was the only woman to lead the secret organization dedicated to clandestine Jewish immigration from Italy to Mandatory Palestine. Through her skill, courage, and determination, the organization grew, secretly bringing thousands of Holocaust survivors to Israel on clandestine immigration ships.Yet Ada was erased from the pages of history. This film places her at the center of the historical narrative—where she rightfully belongs.

 

Israel, Documentary, 2025, 58 min., Director: Noa Aharoni, Producer: Levi Zini

  

Lilach Rosenberg-Friedman is an Associate Professor at the Martin (Szusz) Land of Israel studies and Archaeology department, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, where she is also Director of the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Center for the Study of Women in Judaism. She is a historian who specializes in the social history of Mandatory Palestine and the State of Israel. Dr. Rosenberg-Friedman’s research focuses on the history of women, gender, and family, and includes various essays such as women’s identity, status, and roles; feminine leadership; family history; marriage, births, and motherhood in a national society that combines tradition and modernization; and biographies of women. She researched the story of Ada Sereni, on whom the film is based, advised during the background research phase leading up to the film, and appeared in it as an interviewee.