AICE ISRAELI FILM FESTIVAL 2009
The 6th AICE (Australia Israel Cultural Exchange) Israeli Film Festival showcases a number of films from the emerging Israeli Film Industry. This year’s festival screens 7 new features, 4 documentaries and 3 short films from the Ma’ale Film School in Jerusalem. The festival runs at Palace Cinemas: in Melbourne from 25-30 August at the Como and Brighton Bay; and in Sydney from 1-6 September at the Academy Twin. More festival details can be found on the website: www.aicec.org
The first co-production between Israel and Australia, the animation $9.99, will be released nationally by Icon in September 2009.
Last updated 26 August, 2009.
MA'ALE FILM SCHOOL SHORT FILMS: There are three award winning short films made at this film school in Jerusalem that are screening as part of this year’s festival:
THE ORTHODOX WAY:
Amusing, fast paced tale of a blind date that goes horribly wrong, yet there is light at the end of the tunnel. Shot on video, Ilan Eshkoli’s carefully constructed short film cleverly plays on audience expectations as well as offering some religious insights. Quite engaging.
THOU SHALT LOVE:
Chaim Elbaum’s personal story, dramatized as a short film, about a Yeshivah (Jewish school) man’s wrestling with his attraction to men. This is a well thought out dramatic piece without any explicit visuals, instead concentrating on the religious and emotional aspects of being gay and Jewish.
CHEFTZI ON AIR:
A religious radio love guru discovers that her own advice comes back to bite her when her boyfriend rejects her. Dalit Eliraz has used the short film structure to hone a well-developed story of public and private disjuncture. A good combination of mood and human insight.
(Peter Krausz)
ZRUBAVEL: This film is the first feature that explores the situation for Ethiopian Jews In Israel, trying to come to grips with differences in culture and social attitudes. The somewhat clichéd, but nonetheless well-observed dramatic tale, focuses on one family and a fraught situation for all. Father was a colonel in the Ethiopian army, who in Israel is forced to clean the streets for work. Meanwhile his son hangs out with street gangs, his daughter is in a relationship despite having been promised in an arranged marriage, and his grandson is a budding filmmaker. All of this is anathema to him, culminating in a series of events that force him to reconsider his view of the world in a new country with different customs. Although the story is somewhat predictable, and the issues explored seem a little forced, there is some integrity to Shmuel Beru’s film that tells us something about the Ethiopian culture. (Peter Krausz)
ELI & BEN: The complex relationship between a father and son is well explored in this well made, if somewhat low key, drama about an architect and town planner accused of taking bribes and corruption, and how this affects his young son whose disbelief at this situation turns to concern and further investigation. Ori Ravid’s film looks at the way trust can be betrayed, and how families cope with a major event such as this. Performances are good, even if the screenplay doesn’t quite develop the courage of its original convictions. (Peter Krausz)
EYE WITNESS – 60 YEARS: Micha Shagrir directs this documentary about a photographer (David Rubinger) who has shot photos during most of the major events impacting on Israel since the formation of the state of Israel. The film documents the photos taken, and also travels back to the places Rubinger visited to create those photos. Serving as both a personal biography, as well as a historic catalogue of the development of Israel, the film should have been much more compelling and informative than it turns out to be. There are many missed opportunities to explore the historic perspectives, and the difficulties in photographing conflict and revolution, yet the film concentrates on a few of those events and laboured travels back to those places. Quite disappointing, given the potential of the subject matter. (Peter Krausz)
YIDDISHE MAMA: Not quite the film you may expect based on this manufactured title, this documentary by Fima Schlick and Gennady Kuchuk, focuses on a Russian Jewish woman living in Israel, and her opposition to her only son marrying an Ethiopian woman. The fly on the wall approach highlights the mother’s issues with her son marrying a “black” woman, and going against her expectations of her life for him. The contrast in cultures is exacerbated when the son gets his mother to meet his fiancee’s family. This is a revealing film (see also “Zrubavel”) that demonstrates that Ethiopian Jews are not quite accepted yet by the whole Israeli population. Difficult to watch at times, especially when the mother goes on her occasional rants, this is nonetheless an insightful documentary. Recommended. (Peter Krausz)
NINE YEARS LATER
This documentary deals with the situation of a woman, brought up Muslim in Morocco, who leaves her abusive husband and settles in Israel, converting to Judaism, attempts to have custody of her 9 year old son by trying to get him legally migrated to Israel. The film follows her travails with Jewish courts to try and achieve custody, as well as her conflicting family issues due to her Muslim/Jewish religious and cultural split. Yifat Kedar and Sari Ezouz have made an intriguing documentary that raises a number of questions related to religion and identity. Recommended. (Peter Krausz)
LOST ISLANDS: This year's opening night film turns out to be a sweetly observed, with some acidic revelations, of life in Israel in the early 1980s, focused on one family and in particular the rivalry between two twin brothers. The title refers to the Australian adventure series of a family traveling to uncharted Pacific Islands (26 episodes of 25 minutes each were made), produced by Roger Mirams and Michael Laurence and featuring a large array of well known Australian actors, that was very popular worldwide in the late 1970s. The film opens with the family watching an episode of the series, reflecting the exploratory nature of their own lives, while trying to adjust their TV antenna. Western culture, particularly American culture, imbues this film, revealing the way Israeli life was formed by these Western influences, which often sat uneasily next to traditional Jewish culture. As the narrative develops, and the brothers' rivalry is explored through their attraction to the same woman and the appeal of serving in the Israeli army due to the fighting occurring in Lebanon at the time. When an accident occurs to their father, soul searching and dramatic tension come to the fore, culminating in a series of challenging experiences and emotions. This enjoyable mix of comedy and drama, with plenty of music from the times on the soundtrack, is a good, solid rites of passage, family story, reflecting the chaotic nature of Israeli life at the time amidst the excitement of a developing nation. Recommended. (Peter Krausz)