Other Israel in Film

Details

Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 04 November 2011 05:00

Written by Lynne Shannon

The 5th Annual Other Israel Film Festival screens November 10 - 17, 2011 at the JCC in Manhattan, New York City.

The Other Israel Film Festival presents films and panels about the history, culture and identity of Arab and other minority populations in Israel.

The Opening Night film is the New York premiere of the documentary Dolphin Boy, directed by Dani Menkin and Yonatan Nir. The film relates the saga of an Arab teenager from the North of Israel who, following brutal torture by classmates, suffered such severe PTSD that his last hope of recovery turned out to be dolphin-assisted therapy. The filmmakers will be present for Q&A.

The Closing Night film is My Lovely Sister, directed by Marco Carmel, starring Moshe Ivgy, Evelin HaGoel, Reymonde Amsellem. Based on a Jewish Moroccan folktale, the film is about rivalry between two sisters, one of whom has married an Arab man.

Some of the other films are:

Homecoming
dir. Orna Ben Dor, Noa Maiman
This documentary follows three non-Jewish Israeli teens who were born in Israel to foreign workers -- from the Congo, Peru and the Philippines. The film deals with the politics of immigration and culture in another venue.

Naomi (Hitpartzut X)
dir. Eitan Tzur
This thriller is about a 58-year-old Astrophysics professor who is obsessed with this young wife. He discovers and confronts his wife‛s lover -- and takes action.

The Human Turbine
dir. Danny Verete
In a Palestinian village in the Hebron Mountains surrounded by Jewish settlements, residents of both neighborhoods group together to develop their own wind and solar energy to provide electricity for the caves and tents the villagers call home.

Special Events:

The Festival joins with New York University‛s Taub Center for Israel Studies for a special presentation of the film 77 Steps, directed by Ibtisam Mara’ana. In this film, the director shares her experiences of discrimination as she attempted to find an apartment in Tel Aviv after leaving her Arab-Muslim village.  

The screening will be followed by panel discussion of the recently published book Israel’s Palestinians: The Conflict Within with the co-authors Ilan Peleg and Dov Waxman, along with the director and other participants.

Under One Tent: Arab Participation in Recent Social Uprising in Israel – The panel discussion includes:

• Dov Waxman, author
• Noa Maiman, filmmaker/political activist
• Tamar Zandberg, Tel Aviv City Council Member
• Ibtisam Mara'ana, filmmaker

Palestinian Cinema in Israel – A conversation between filmmaker Mohammad Bakri and author Prof. Ella Shohat, whose groundbreaking Israeli Cinema: East/West and the Politics of Representation was recently re-published in a new edition.

Other Israel SpeakEasy Café – A steady stream of intimate conversations and in-depth discussions with filmmakers, scholars and experts, including:

• Eitan Tzur, director of Naomi (Hitpartzut X)
• Sabine Lubbe Bakker, Ester Gould, directors of Shout
• Sigal Emanuel, director of A Place of Her Own
• Yehuda Bitton, producer of The Human Turbine
• Ronit Kertsner, director of Torn
• Peter Kosminsky, director of The Promise

Other Israel for the Whole Family – Two presentations for adults and children alike are:

Storytelling – Snow in Jerusalem by Deborah Da Costa, a book about two boys who live in Jerusalem’s Old City and care for a beautiful stray cat -- without knowing it‛s the same cat.

Screening – The family film David & Kamal, directed by Kikuo Kawasaki. Kamal, an Arab Jerusalemite and David, an American Jew, are 9-year-old boys who meet in Jerusalem's Old City where Kamal is "dodging bullies and trying to sell postcards". They become friends as they go through unexpected adventures together.

Says founder Carole Zabar, "Through these films, the festival aims to present the lives, dreams and strengths of the Arab minority and to show their participation in Israeli life.

"Growing up in a democratic Jewish state has without any doubt shaped the cultural and national identity of all of its inhabitants and citizens -- who know no other home. These films and artistic expressions are paving the way to co-existence and a new, more inclusive culture in the Middle East."

For more information, visit www.otherisrael.org.

The Jewish Community Center (JCC)
The Samuel Priest Rose Building
334 Amsterdam Avenue at W 76th Street
New York City
646-505-5708
www.jccmanhattan.org

• < Prev
• Next >