Special Program: Israeli Documentaries
Israeli documentary filmmakers are producing outstanding films that run the gamut in terms of subject and approach. Some are journalistically objective and others are distinctly point-of-view; some make quiet personal portraits and others boldly capture the inflammatory, multifaceted political situation in Israel, from terrorism against Jews to human rights of Palestinians.
The proliferation and success of Israeli documentaries are a testament to the filmmakers themselves and to the institutions that have nurtured them: the major Israeli international film festivals (Jerusalem, Haifa and Doc Aviv); Israeli television channels 1, 2, 8, 10 and Yes Doco; a strong cadre of film schools; and the growing network of distributors specializing in Israeli film. We are delighted to welcome documentary distributor Ruth Diskin and Jerusalem film festival programmer Gilli Mendel, who will be attending this year’s festival and introducing several films.
The biggest funder and advocate of Israeli documentary is The New Foundation for Cinema and Television (NFCT), which was founded in 1993 by Israel’s Ministry of Arts and has since supported the production of around 250 original films, the vast majority of them documentaries. Films in this year’s festival funded by the NFCT include Ido Haar’s unblinking look at illegal Palestinian construction workers, 9 Star Hotel; Tali Shemesh’s poetic portrait of the Holocaust generation, The Cemetery Club; Shimon Dotan’s masterful and electrifying documentary on Palestinians in Israeli prisons, Hot House; Avida Livny’s playful mockumentary about a legendary boxer, Max Baer’s Last Right Hook, and Lina Chaplin’s foray into the unfamiliar world of Neturei Karta, Yoel, Israel and the Pashkevils.
We offer a Close-Up this year on three films by veteran documentarian Nurit Kedar, whose films Borders, Lebanon Dream and her newest, Wasted, examine the ongoing conflict between the neighboring countries of Israel and Lebanon. Kedar will attend the San Francisco and Berkeley screenings of her films.
We also offer the latest films of the prolific Duki Dror, who will be attending the festival this year with a sneak preview of his documentary Sidewalk as well as with Mr. Cortisone, Happy Days, two original, if very different, close-up portraits. And the newest generation of filmmakers is on view in the youth media program I Am You Are, presented by program founder Gilli Mendel of the Jerusalem Cinematheque.
Please join us for a panel on the state of Israeli documentary filmmaking on Saturday, July 28 at 3pm at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, following the screening of Wasted (ticket to film includes panel). Invited speakers include Nurit Kedar, Duki Dror, Shimon Dotan, Ido Haar, Gilli Mendel and moderator Ruth Diskin.
Films
9 Star Hotel
An intimate look inside the lives of Palestinian construction workers who cross illegally into Israel in search of a livelihood.
Borders
Filmmakers Nurit Kedar and Eran Riklis teamed up to make Borders, a riveting documentary that puts a human face on the neighbors who live alongside Israel's 1,171 kilometers of borders. The film deftly explores the political, cultural and geographical divisions that separate Israelis, Lebanese, Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians and Palestinians from one another. Some of these borders are peaceful and quiet; others are fraught with fear. But the people who live and work near the borders - an Israeli soldier who "adopts" an Arab family, a Druze bride who leaves her family in the Golan to marry in Lebanon (the real-life story behind Riklis's Syrian Bride), or the Lebanese merchant importing luxury goods from Israel into Southern Lebanon we will meet again in Lebanon Dream - navigate these artificial boundaries with a combination of emotional and physical effort. Director Nurit Kedar will be in attendance.
Cemetery Club, The
This mesmerizing documentary profiles a vital group of octogenarians who gather weekly to discuss art, politics, philosophy and love. It�s a brilliant and witty portrait of older people who seek an understanding of the narrative of their lives.
Hot House
Filmmaker Shimon Dotan probes a startling truth: Israeli prisons are a breeding ground for the next generation of Palestinian leaders and a hotbed for terrorism.
I Am - You Are
I Am You Are presents films by Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers in the award-winning youth media program at the Jerusalem Cinematheque. Preceded by Gary's Story.
Jonathan
It seems like a straightforward home movie, but we promise Jonathan is anything but. Rather, it is an impossibly prescient piece of filmmaking whose seeming simplicity belies its narrative power. Jonathan tells the story of a little boy who wants to dress up as the Little Mermaid for Purim, and you wouldn't think you could care so much about whether or not he gets to fulfill his dream. Jonathan makes us think again about what little boys are made of.
Ladino - 500 Years Young
Yasmin Levy, an electrifying Israeli singer, is trying to preserve the musical culture of Ladino, the ancient language of the Jews of Spain, now in danger of disappearing.
Lebanon Dream
Veteran filmmaker Nurit Kedar's two documentaries Borders and Lebanon Dream explore the meaning of borders and the travails of those who cross them.
Max Baer's Last Right Hook
It's wartime 1942, and hapless entrepreneur Yaakov Gendelmayer has an idea for a morale-boosting publicity stunt: bring Jewish former heavyweight boxer Max Baer to Palestine to fight a German boxer, in an effort to recreate Baer's legendary bout against Hitler's darling, Max Schmeling. Sixty years later, Gendelmayer's son comes to Israel to interview old-timers and find out the truth about Max Baer's last right hook. In a hilarious send-up--or is it a valentine?--of the clichés of history documentaries, filmmaker Avida Livny uncovers a story so wonderful it ought to be true...and maybe it is!
Mr. Cortisone, Happy Days
In this intimate tour de force, the director battles cancer and charms one and all looking for salvation and finding it by creating a cinematic masterpiece.
Sidewalk
When does it all begin? How do we become who we become? How did any of us survive the trials and tribulations of childhood?
Wasted
Nurit Kedar's Wasted is a candid look at Israeli soldiers who served in the fortress of Beaufort in Southern Lebanon before Israel's withdrawal in 2000.
Yoel, Israel and the Pashkevils
Yoel, Israel and the Pashkevils, an unusual documentary because of its access to a hidden community, about a printer of protest posters (pashkevils) and his zealous nemesis.