Ballad of the Weeping Spring בלדה לאביב הבוכה
Feature, 2012.
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 105 minutes.
Director: Benny Torati
With Uri Gavriel, Dudu Tassa, Nir Levy, Adar Gold, Ishtar, and Yigal Adika
Nominated for 9 Ophir Awards including Best Film. Winner, Best Music, Jerusalem International Film Festival.
Twenty years ago, two friends played in the Mizrahi band The Turquoise Ensemble. On the way to the premier of their composition The Weeping Springtime Symphony, a deadly accident took place. One of the friends went to jail for it. Upon his release, he moved to the north of Israel, opened an alehouse and longed for his former life. Driven by guilt, he finally decides to journey to his past, to reunite the group, to grant the last wishes of a friend, and perhaps heal his own tortured soul.
Wonderfully diverse and quirky characters, superb music, and remarkable venues. –Amy Kronish
Beyond the Boundaries
Sponsored by FIDF. Part of our IDF Night
Documentary, 2011
In Hebrew and English with English subtitles. 63 minutes.
Director: Yonatan Nir
Official Entry, L.A., Newport Beach, Aspen and Boulder Jewish Film Festivals
Beyond the Boundaries focuses on four of the participants in Golshim L’Chaim—Ski To Live, a group that takes wounded Israeli soldiers and teaches them how to ski in Aspen, Colorado. Their dramatic personal experiences, from their injuries to their empowerment on the mountain, show how adversity opens the door for human potential. One cannot help but be moved by the accomplishments of these special athletes.
Epilogue וברל חיותה
Feature, 2012.
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 96 minutes.
Director: Amir Manor. With Yosef Carmon and Rivka Gur
Winner, Best Actor and Best Actress, Jerusalem International Film Festival
Grand Prize, Goa International Film Festival. Official Entry, Tokyo Filmex: Beijing and New York City International Film Festivals.
Berl and Hayuta, live in a cluttered flat in Tel Aviv. They are both over 80 and have one son who has left for New York…and Berl won’t talk to him for having done it. Their only source of income is the insultingly meager Social Security pension, their health and fitness is so-so, they refuse to adjust to a world that has trampled under its feet every notion they had believed in. Disappointed and powerless, Hayuta and Berl refuse to be tolerated as unnecessary, irrelevant burdens, but they are left no choice. The cinematographer is Guy Raz, director of our 2011 Opening Night feature, Mabul.
Wonderful performances at its center…perfectly encapsulating these pitiable but utterly real characters. –Cine-vue
Foreign Letters מרחקים
Personal appearance by Director Ela Their as part of our third annual evening of Films By & About Women, hosted by Hadassah and ORT.(Oct 7th)
Feature, 2012.
In English, Hebrew, and Vietnamese with English subtitles. 100 minutes.
Director: Ela Thier. With Noa Rotstein and Delena Le.
Official Selection at the UK, Toronto, Atlanta, Austin and New Jersey Jewish Film Festivals.
A bittersweet coming-of-age film, Foreign Letters is itself a love letter to the unshakeable bond between friends. Set in the pre-email era of the 1980s, young Ellie, newly arrived to the U.S. from Israel, anxiously waits for letters from her best friend back home. Suffering from homesickness, language difficulties and rejection at school, life brightens when she meets Thuy, a Vietnamese refugee her age. As the two bond and become inseparable, they eventually hurt each other, and Ellie must find a way to restore their trust. Based on director Ela Thier’s personal immigration experience, Foreign Letters is a film about poverty, prejudice, shame, and the healing power of friendship.
Shows the confusion and hilarity of adapting to an alien culture with a quiet, subtle elegance. –Filmoria
Garden of Eden גן עדן
Sunday, Oct. 13, 1 p.m. Hosted by the New Israel Fund.
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Documentary, 2012
In Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, and Yiddish, with English subtitles. 73 minutes.
Director: Ran Tal
Best Director, Jerusalem International Film Festival. Official Entry, International Documentary Festival, Amsterdam; True/False Film Festival, HOT DOCS, Independent Film Festival, Boston; Dok Fest Munich, Planet + Doc Film Festival; Seret London Israeli Film Festival.
Director Ran Tal (Children of the Sun) studies the innermost parts of Israeli society with humor and compassion—in an unexpected location. During a spring, summer, fall and winter season of one year, he documents the physical transformation of Gan HaShlosha, better known as the Sakhne, one of the largest, most famous and most visited parks in Israel. With an equally spectacular expression of cinematic beauty, he also tells the stories of the diverse group of people who visit the park and who work there.
A unique film in the landscape of most documentaries produced in Israel in its poignancy, its simplicity and modesty. –Ha’aretz
God’s Neighbors המשגיחים
Sun, Oct. 6, 3:30 p.m. Hosted by American Jewish Committee Buy Tickets
Feature, 2012
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 102 minutes.
Director: Meny Yaesh. With Roy, Assaf, Gal Friedman, Itzik Golan, Gili Shushan, and Rotem Zussman-Cohen
Winner, Societe des Auteurs Prize; Best Film, Jerusalem International Film Festival. Nominated for 9 Ophir Awards, including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. Official entry, Cannes Film Festival
Ultimately a tale of redemption and reconciliation, this highly decorated film tells the story of Avi (Roy Assaf) and his band of Orthodox watchdogs who take it upon themselves to patrol the streets of coastal Bat Yam on Shabbat. Although under the tutelage of a charismatic rabbi, their behavior–berating immodestly-clothed women, harassing neighbors who are not shomer shabbos, and beating up strangers who stray onto their turf –is less than pious. When Avi meets attractive, independent-minded and secular Miri (Rotem Zussman-Cohen), he is both smitten and conflicted, triggering a crisis of faith.
As forceful as a kick in the jaw…a sharp rebuke of bigotry and male aggression perpetrated under the banner of religious orthodoxy. –Variety
Let’s Dance
Sun, Oct. 6, 1:00 p.m. [with Numbered] Hosted by the IL Holocaust Museum Buy Tickets
Documentary, 2012.
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 52 minutes.
Director: Gabriel Bibliowicz
Official Entry, Jerusalem International Film Festival; New York, Boston and Palm Beach Jewish Film Festivals; German-Israeli Film Festival and Filmisreal Festival for New Israeli Cinema.
A dance lover’s delight. Through the works of leading Israeli choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Rami Be’er and Yasmeen Godde, Israel has become a recognized world leader in modern dance, and the art form has become one of Israeli’s greatest cultural achievements. Moving in time and space over 90 years—from the vibrant and exotic world of the pioneer choreographers, to hora circles of the kibbutzim, to today, the dances, combined with commentary from top professionals, shed light on the most sensitive issues of Israeli society: religion, sexuality, home, the Holocaust, the military and multi-culturalism.
Lola לולה
Part of our third annual evening of Films By & About Women, hosted by Hadassah and ORT.
Documentary, 2012.
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 57 minutes.
Director: Eytan Harris
Winner, Israel Film Center in New York Documentary Award; Official Entry, Haifa International Film Festival and Jewish Film Festival, Berlin
Galia Pardo lives happily and quietly with her husband and four children in the tiny provincial town of Zichron Yaakov, where she is very popular and well-known as the local florist and as a singer in the local choir. One day, Galia makes a dramatic decision. She closes the flower shop and opens a sex shop. How are the allegedly conservative inhabitants going to accept her and her shop? Will the new shop flourish?
Give(s) you a new humoristic perspective on sex shops, and…their owners.
–Haifa Film Festival
My Hertzl הרצל שלי
Personal appearance by Director Eli Tal-El and Producer David Matlow.
Documentary, 2013.
In Hebrew (and English) with English, German, and Spanish subtitles. 52 minutes.
Director: Eli Tal-El.
World Premiere at the Tenenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto
An intimate and unconventional documentary about the private life of Theodor Herzl, the namesake of Hertzliya, Israel, and the unlikely change agent who envisioned the modern State. To Eli, a Jerusalem documentary filmmaker, Herzl is a washed out icon. In the eyes of his Canadian brother-in-law, one of the world’s most avid collectors of Herzl memorabilia, Herzl is an inspiring superstar. Who’s right? The film is a personal look at Hertzl and his legacy, still under debate.
Not in Tel Aviv לא בתל אביב
Sun, Oct. 6, 6:00 p.m. Hosted by Israeli House. Buy Tickets
Feature, 2012.
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 82 minutes.
Director: Nony Geffen. With Nony Geffen, Yaara Pelzig, Romy Aboulafia, Anat Atzomn and Tai Fridman.
Winner, Special Jury Prize Locarno International Film Festival; Best Independent Feature, Cinema South Film Festival. Official Selection, Medfilms; Oldenburg, Warsaw, and Rendezvous Istanbul Film Festivals.
Trained as an actor, Nony Geffen plays the lead role in his dark, funny directing debut. His character is repressed high-school teacher who loses his job and decides to pull his entire life down with it. Within the span of a few days, he kidnaps a teenage student, reconnects with his old high-school crush, forgives an old friend, kills his mother, takes on a rabid group of feminists, confronts a movie star, evades the police and challenges the stifling conventions of his boring small town
.
An ultra-contemporary black comedy…Charms and surprises from start to end. –Concorso Cineasti del presente
Numbered
Sun, Oct. 6, 1 p.m. [with Let's Dance] Hosted by the IL Holocaust Museum Buy Tickets
Documentary, 2012
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 55 minutes.
Directors: Dana Doron and Uriel Sinai
Winner, Best Debut Award, Documentary Forum; Silver Hugo Award, Chicago International Film Festival. Official Selection, Australia, Sao Paulo, Zagreb, Toronto, Seattle, Miami, Palm Beach, Washington, New York, Calgary, and Hong Kong Jewish Film Festivals; Jerusalem International Film Festival
Auschwitz prisoners, both Jewish and non-Jewish, were tattooed with serial numbers on their left arms. An estimated 400,000 numbers were tattooed; only a few thousand survivors are still alive today to bear them. Numbered is an explosive, highly visual, and emotionally cinematic journey, guided by testimonies and portraits of these survivors. The film documents the dark times and settings, as well as the meaning the tattoos took on in the years following the war. In fact, the film’s protagonists are the numbers themselves, as they evolve and become both a personal and collective symbols from1940 to today.
A triumphant affirmation of human desire in the face of incalculable cruelty. –The Jewish Week
Photonovela פוטונובלה
Monday, Oct. 7, 4 p.m. [with Lola] Part of our third annual evening of Films By & About Women, hosted by Hadassah and ORT. Buy Tickets
Documentary, 2013
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 52 minutes.
Director: Chen Shelach
Official Entry, Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival
The family history project is one of the milestones of a child’s life in Israel. It will be fun, promises the education system, and in the end, the family’s heritage will be preserved and the child will grow up with an understanding of his or her place in the family. Of course, the assumption behind the project is that all students are part of a normative family. Oops. Photonovela is a wonderful film about this very mistake. When the director’s daughter, Shir, grudgingly digs into her family history, she discovers that her roots, from the Holocaust to the kibbutz on which she lives, must be unearthed with extreme caution.
Riffs by Raff
With Season 3 of Homeland debuting September 29 on Showtime, you won’t want to miss its Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning creator Gideon Raff, making a special appearance at the Festival on Saturday, October 5 at 8 p.m. at Thorne Auditorium of the Northwestern University Law School. Mr. Raff, also the creator/writer/director/producer of Homeland’s Israeli-inspired series Hatufim (Prisoners of War) will compare his shows, run clips from each, answer your questions and discuss filmmaking for the small screen. He will be interviewed by Howard Tullman, Chairman of Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy.
Room 514 514 חדר
Mon, Oct. 7, 8:45 p.m. Part of our third annual evening of Films By & About Women, hosted by Hadassah and ORT. Buy Tickets
Sat, Oct. 12, 9:45 p.m. Part of our IDF Night. Buy Tickets
FOR MATURE AUDIENCES
Feature, 2012.
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 90 minutes.
Director: Sharon Bar-Ziv. With Asia Naifeld, Ohad Hall, Guy Kapulnik, Udi Persi, Rafi Kalmar, Hilly Israel and Oren Farage.
Winner, Zerkalo Film Festival Special Prize; Best Director, Granada International Film Festival Alhambra de Plata. Special Jury Mention, Tribeca Film Festival. Best Actress Nominee, Orphir Awards. Official Selection, Cannes and Ghent Film Festivals; Rio De Janeiro and Warsaw International Film Festivals
Anna (the impressive Asia Naifeld) is investigating a case involving Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians at a checkpoint. Based on evidence she collects she interrogates the heroic company commander of a special unit who is adamant that he has done no wrong. Her direct boss, Erez, with whom Anna is having a passionate affair, warns her off the case, but personal integrity forces her to face-off with the commander and get him to admit his decisions. The film has just two locations–Room 514 and the bus Anna takes to go home, and raises many universal questions about women in the military.
A triumph of low-budget filmmaking, this tightly scripted drama transforms its financial limitations into assets. –Variety
The World is Funny העולם מצחיק
Thu, Oct. 3, 6:30 p.m. OPENING NIGHT! Hosted by Israel Cancer Research Fund Buy Tickets
Thu, Oct. 10, 6:30 pm. Hosted by Pintel Financial Buy Tickets
Sun, Oct. 13, 8:00 p.m. CLOSING NIGHT! Hosted by BJBE Buy Tickets
Feature, 2012.
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 127 minutes.
Director: Shemi Zarhin. With Assi Levy, Eli Finish, Danny Steg, Naama Shitrit, Or Ben-Melech, Moshe Ashkenazi and Ola Schur Selektar.
Nominated for a record-breaking 15 Ophir Awards, including Best Feature. Nominated, Best Film, Chicago International Film Festival. Official Selection, Palm Springs International Film Festival, New York, Montreal and Paris Israeli Film Festivals.
Sometimes the only answer to any problem is, the world is funny, so we have to laugh. Set in Tiberias, the latest Israeli box office smash from Shemi Zarhin (Passover Fever, Monsieur Shlomi, Aviva My Love) weaves fantasy and reality in a multilayered, tragicomic collection of vignettes. The central characters are estranged siblings: a widower whose older son has just awakened from a 9-year coma; a radio producer who tries to unite the popular comedy troupe HaGashash HaHiver to save his terminally-ill Russian girlfriend; and a travel agent (Assi Levy) whose daughter was killed in an army accident. The narrative strands and diverse personalities grow in richness and complexity as the film progresses.
A funny, moving and sexy masterpiece that deals with the redeeming power of stories… the best Israeli film of 2012. –Cinemascope
Zaytoun זייתון
Sat, Oct. 12, 7:15 p.m. Hosted by North Suburban Synagogue Beth El. Part of our IDF Night.
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Feature, 2012.
In Hebrew with English subtitles. 110 minutes.
Director: Eran Riklis. With Stephen Dorff, Abdallah El Akal, Ali Suliman and Mira Awad.
Official Selection, Toronto International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, UK Jewish Film Festival, AFI Film Festival, CPH PIX, Isreal Film Festival; Berlin and Potsdam Jewish Film Festivals and the Seattle International Film Festival.
From the director of The Syrian Bride, Human Resources Manager and Lemon Tree and the producer of The King’s Speech, comes an unlikely buddy movie—the story of Yoni, played by American heartthrob Stephen Dorff, an Israeli fighter pilot, and a young Palestinian boy, Fahed. The story takes place during the First Lebanon War in 1982, as Yoni’s plane is shot down near Beirut and he is captured. Fahed sees an opportunity to free the pilot, so he can take him back to his ancestral home to plant an olive-tree his father had left him. At first, Yoni and Fahed are mortal enemies, but along the way…
The beautiful location work and performances add immeasurably to the authenticity. –Daily Express