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	Forums - Israeli and Jewish films in the USA ... the Chosen cinema? Israeli and Jewish films in the USA ... The Chosen cinema Okay, ha-ha, bad joke. Fact is, there's really no joking around when it comes to Israeli cinema. Many of the films that make it across the pond to the USA are extremely dramatic with dark, complex themes. Of course, they do produce a quirky comedy from time-to-time, too. As with the (too many) other information threads I have produced, this one will hopefully offer you some info that could lead you to some alternative festival fare or at least a new title for your NetFlix queue. La Chaim! (To Life)


	17TH ANNUAL NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL TO BE PRESENTED JANUARY 9 TO 24, 2008 BY FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER AND THE JEWISH MUSEUM NEW YORK The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center will present the 17th annual New York Jewish Film Festival, January 9 through 24, 2008. One of the longest running collaborations of two arts institutions in New York City, the festival will take place at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, 165 West 65th Street, with several screenings at The Jewish Museum, Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street. Presenting 32 dramas, documentaries, and shorts, this years festival highlights the range of challenging and insightful topics informing the Jewish experience. A young boy discovers a family secret; An Orthodox Jewish immigrant from Russia is drawn to the boxing ring; A young army commander makes a vain attempt to protect his troops from Hezbollah missiles and low morale; A father mysteriously vanishes in Jerusalem; A multi-generational family of bakers wins the hearts and stomachs of a community; An unusual friendship forms between a Muslim nurse and her elderly Jewish patient. If one thing unites these films, says Aviva Weintraub, associate curator and director of the festival, it is the great variety embodied in the festivals offerings. We have films about and from Jewish communities around the worldincluding Israel, Latin America, Europe, and the U.S.representing work by well-established directors as well as emerging filmmakers. In addition to presenting one world premiere, ten U.S. Premieres, and twelve New York premieres, this years festival honors the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel by showcasing ten Israeli films, eight of which are being screened in New York for the first time. The festival also pays homage to the late Austrian director Axel Corti. We showed his Young Doctor Freud at the Museum a number of years ago and the response was tremendous, Weintraub explains. We wanted to share more of his extraordinary films with our audience, and so we organized this small tribute to him. Three of the four Corti films in the festival focus on the period surrounding World War II. They reveal his acute appreciation for the presenceand later absenceof Jews in 20th-century European history, Weintraub says. Most films will be shown at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center; Two documentaries will be screened at The Jewish Museum: Praying With Lior, a film by Ilana Trachtman about a young man with Down syndrome preparing for his bar mitzvah (www.dantrachtman.com/lior/); And the New York premiere of Making Trouble, a film about funny Jewish women across three generations (http://makingtrouble.com/). The range of work in this year's New York Jewish Film Festival is especially impressive; Films such as The Search for The Missing Piece, Villa Jasmin or Praying with Lior, among others, each confront complex issues in innovative, exciting ways, says Richard Peña, program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. The 17th annual New York Jewish Film Festival has been organized by a committee consisting of Rachel Chanoff, independent curator; Andrew Ingall, assistant curator, The Jewish Museum; Richard Peña, program director, Film Society of Lincoln Center; And Aviva Weintraub, associate curator and director of the New York Jewish Film Festival, The Jewish Museum. Complete schedule and program information will be available online in January 2008 atwww.thejewishmuseum.org and at www.filmlinc.com. Brochures can be requested by calling 212 423 3337. The New York Jewish Film Festival is sponsored, in part, by The Martin and Doris Payson Charitable Foundation. Additional support has been provided through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; The New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; And the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art. Generous funding has also been provided by The Liman Foundation, The Jack and Pearl Resnick Foundation, Mimi and Barry Alperin, the Israel Office of Cultural Affairs in the USA, the French Embassy, the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York and Mexicana Airlines.


	"With Faith. Hard work. Dreams come true." -Dmitriy Orthodox Stance Not since the first "Rocky" movie has the rise of a boxer been so winningly told, and this documentary has the added cache in that all of the events are true and the fights are REAL - you have to see this one to believe it! 3-1/4 stars [(2007)Video-docu/USA] - (1 hr 23 min) [In English w/ some Russian, Spanish, & Hebrew (subtitled)] Direction, Co-Editing, & Cinematography by Jason Hutt Co-Editor: Rachel Kittner Original score by Mark Orton Featuring: Dmitriy Salita ... Professional boxer & Orthodox Jew Dmitriy Salita Additional interviews with: Jimmy O' Pharrow (Dmitriy's 1st Trainer/Starrett City Boxing Club) Israel Liberow (Dmitriy's manager and Judaism advisor) Lou DiBella (Promoter, DiBella Entertainment) Oscar Suarez (Dmitriy's 2nd Trainer) Hector Roca (Dmitriy's 3rd Trainer) Rabbi Zalman Liberov (Chabad of Flatbush, Brooklyn) Matisyahu (Hasidic Reggae singer) Cameo: Michael Bloomberg (NYC Mayor) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (Two-time World Champion) Israel Liberow Review: "Anybody wants a whoopin' from me gotta wait till after sundown" -Mayor Mike Bloomberg When the documentary of "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" was released almost a decade ago, it was the first time that I heard of a person of the Jewish faith being in professional sports. However, until now I never would have believed that an orthodox member of Judaism could not only succeed as a boxer, but also get the mainly non-Jewish led ruling bodies of the boxing world to agree to modifications to fit their sport to his religion. Very early on in the film the 'kosher' boxer Dmitriy Salita cancels a bout in Turkey because the promoters need him to fight on the Sabbath. From that point on, Dmitriy realizes that TV's "Friday Night Fights" will not be part of his boxing calendar, but he does successfully argue for fighting on Saturday nights after sundown (the end of the Sabbath period). Not to mention all the holy days in between, some 70 days of the year that his religious preference interferes with his profession. Luckily Dmitiy finds some sympathetic promoters and winds up boxing in Las Vegas. With each successive fight Dmitriy soon proves he's not only a contender but a big draw in his new hometown - Brooklyn. As a Russian emigre (from Odessa, Ukraine) and devout member of the Flatbush synogogue, the opportunity to fight in front of his Georgian religious brethren proves to be just the approval and recognition he needs to continue the grueling training schedule. In between fights Dmitriy works as a cab driver, but always remembers to stay Kosher and observe the Orthodox rules at all times. The story hinges on Dmitriy's determination which never wavers and his ability to outperform his opponents in the ring. He's a real talent worth watching in future. I won't spoil the ending but even the scriptwriters in Hollywood couldn't have come up with a better way to end this merging of sport and religious faith. If you're going to the festival, put this one at the top of your list! "The Greatest Jewish fighter since Samson." -[fan banner] Additional fighters: Fight #1 (Las Vegas) vs. Ron Gladden Fight #2 (Puerto Rico) vs. John Hoffman Fight #3 (Los Angeles) vs. Joey Bartole Fight #4 (Atlantic City) vs. Kostya Tzyu Fight #5 (Brooklyn) vs. Ruben Galvan Fight #6 (Manhattan) vs. Darrelle Sukerow Fight #7 (Manhattan) vs. Shawn Gallegos Additional appearances: Michael Salita (Dmitriy's brother) Kurt Emhof (Dmitriy's accountant) David Itskowicz (Fight contract negotiator) Bob Arum (boxing promoter/Top Rank) Bill Caplan (publicist/HBO Pay-per-view) Rocky Martinez (fighter) Hector Roca (@ left) w/ Dmitriy TRIVIA: Orthodox Stance - this is an actual boxing term that refers to a person who boxes right-handed as opposed to left (Southpaw). This film be broadcast by the BBC in 2008. It took 5 years to complete the documentary, 170 hours of footage were shot with digital video cameras. Note: footage if Dmitriy's fights are taken from very high quality, HBO Pay-per-view broadcast footage.


	Someone to Run With Mishehu larutz ito (Israel) Directed by Oded Davidoff Screenplay, Noah Stollman, based on the novel by David Grossman. With: Bar Belfer, Yonatan Bar-Or, Tzahi Grad, Rinat Matatov, Yuval Mendelson, Danny Steg, Neomi Polani. Mystery, romance and a golden Labrador race through the more seamy byways of Jerusalem in Israeli helmer Oded Davidoff's "Someone to Run With," a breezy cross between "Lassie" and "Oliver Twist." Based on David Grossman's bestseller, pic moves briskly in parallel arcs as a lad follows a lost dog bounding through the mean streets in search of its mistress. Well-structured dual-time sense and highly appealing perfs by tyro teen leads (Bar Belfer was nominated for an actress Ophir) make for a noirish, enjoyable adventure. Curiously wholesome walk on the dark side could find an arthouse squat. Taking a summer job at the pound, Assaf (Yonatan Bar-Or), an amiable 17-year-old whose goofy grin wards off all manner of discouragement, sets out to track down the unknown owner of Dinka the dog. Pulled along willy-nilly by the anxious canine, Assaf is regaled by neighborhood folk with tales of Dinka's owner, Tamar (Belfer), a street-singing waif with a guitar and a mysterious agenda. Already a pushover for the tail-wagging Labrador retriever, Assaf increasingly feels drawn to the damsel in distress whose steps he is retracing. Flashbacks to Tamar alternate with Assaf's quest as he passes through the same Jerusalem exteriors. Tamar, like Joan of Arc, has shaved her head for a rescue mission of her own, and allows herself to be swept up by a Fagan-like character, Pesach (Tzahi Grad), who shelters street musicians as a front for a more nefarious trade. Holding the troubadours virtual prisoners, Pesach has them perform in selected public squares while his thugs deal drugs on the fringes of the gathered crowds. Tamar's roommate Shelley (Rinat Matatov) fiercely embodies the hopelessness of these lost kids. Pic has been promoted as an expose, a nightmarish descent into the soft underbelly of Jerusalem. Yet no matter what horrors Assaf and Tamar encounter in their tandem storylines -- Assaf chased, beaten and threatened at every turn, Tamar bullied and imprisoned, watching friends and loved ones ravaged by drugs -- both juves remain oddly untouched and untouchable. They come off as almost childishly heroic, wearing their goodness (and their class status) as impenetrable shields, envied and admired by those weaker beings enslaved by drugs and/or cowardice. Thesps Bar-Or and Belfer manage to inject their characters with enough wistfulness, sweetness and compassion to prevent their strength from reading as self-righteousness. Tech credits are fine. Yaron Scharf's color-leached HD lensing grounds pic in the topography of Jerusalem's "other" side. A JCS, HOT production. Produced by Andrew Braunsberg, Philippa Kowarsky, Shmulik Shem Tov, Orly Bruck, Oriana Ghivoly. Executive producers, Gaby Rosenberg, Alon Shtruzman. Co-producers, Mirit Toovi, Efrat Rabinovich. Visual Effects SupervisorCamera (color, HD), Yaron Scharf; Editor, Ron Omer; Music, Ran Shem Tov; Production designer, Shahar Bar-Adon; Sound (Dolby Digital), Aviv Aldema; Casting, Orit Azoulay. Running time: 116 MIN. Reviewed at New York Jewish Film Festival, Jan. 10, 2008 By RONNIE SCHEIB


	Launching its 12th Year The New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival Continues To Explore the Cinema of this Rich and Diverse Culture February 7-14, 2008 The American Sephardic Federation/Sephardic House, in association with Yeshiva University Museum , announces the 2008 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival line up, celebrating a dozen years of exciting and thought provoking films. With the expansion to multiple locations, this one-of-a-kind event running February 7 14, 2008 will offer a fascinating look through the lens of the Sephardic view point, past, present and beyond. Since its debut at Lincoln Center over a decade ago the NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival has continued its commitment to create a unique platform for quality films with distinctively Sephardic themes created by up-and-coming, as well as renowned filmmakers from around the globe. Lynne Winters, the Director of Programming, states, The New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival is one of the best expressions of ASFs mission for cultural inclusiveness, and its determined efforts to preserve and support the rich cultural heritage, spirit and history of all Sephardic communities as an integral part of the Jewish experience. This annual exploration of Sephardic Jewry presents the audience with an extraordinary breadth of lands, languages and traditions, revealing the other within the Jewish tradition. In continuing and enhancing their support of the festival, The New York State Council of the Arts states that they are impressed by the curators work. Particularly the thematic approach and challenging films scheduled to be offered. The panelists recognized that the Sephardic Jewish experience is different than the more commonly understood Ashkenazi Jewish experience, with a more critical, cultural outlook. Some noteworthy themes running through this years festival include:The intergenerational relationships of the Sephardic experience passing down the history, reclaiming the heritage and creating a new identity. For many of the Sephardic Jews, their roots quickly disappeared with the birth of Israel . There are now strong movements to reclaim their lineages. While simultaneous movements strive to create a new, modern identity.Music as a means of communication that transcends cultural differences. The earliest composers of Hebrew folk music often mimicked the sounds of the local Palestinian Arab music. Later, Arabic musical traditions were brought by Jewish immigrants from Arab lands from Morocco , Yemen , Iraq , Egypt and elsewhere. These immigrants developed an eclectic Mediterranean style called "Muzika Mizrahit" (Oriental music), which became increasingly popular in the early 1960s. Muzika Mizrahit combines eastern and western elements: the ensemble includes Middle Eastern instruments, such as the oud, the kanun, the Arabic violin, the darbouka and the Greek bouzouki, alongside electric and acoustic guitars, pianos and other western instruments.Bourekas movies - a film genre, popular in Israeli cinema during the 1960s and 70s. The term was supposedly coined by the Israeli film director Boaz Davidson, the creator of several such films as a play-on-words of the "spaghetti western" (Bourekas is a notable puff pastry originating in the former Ottoman Empire), and some would consider these B movies to be the equivalent to the US exploitation films.The main repeating theme in most of the Bourekas films was the conflict between cultures of the Israeli ethnicities, and in particular between the Mizrahi Jews and the Ashkenazi Jews. The hero was usually a Mizrahi Jew, almost always poor, canny and with life intelligence, who comes into conflict with the institutions of the state or figures of Ashkenazi origin. Bourekas films were characterized by the different accent imitations, and in particular the accent of Jews originating from Morocco, Persia and Poland, slapstick humor, alternate identities and a combination of comedy and melodrama.Israel @ 60 the anniversary of the birth of Israel looks back on the creation of a nation and what that means to the Jewish community around the globe.The Italian Jewish experience will be a high-light of this years festival with the inclusion of films and talks sponsored by The Centro Primo Levi (CPL), founded in 2001 to promote research and cultivate awareness of the history, culture and traditions of the Jews of Italy. Primo Levi was an Italian Jewish chemist, Holocaust survivor and author of memoirs, short stories, poems, and novels. His book, If This Is a Man (published in the United States as Survival in Auschwitz) has been described as one of the most important works of the twentieth century. On Thursday February 7th, the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival is proud to open its 12th season with the US Premiere of Ehud Tomalaks I Got No Jeep and My Camel Died, followed by a performance & Q&A with the films star Yair Dalal and an opening reception. And to close this years festival, on Thursday February 14th, we are honored to screen the music-driven documentary Nuba of Light and Gold, directed by Izza Genini. Ms. Genini will be present. Adieu Meres (Goodbye Mothers) (North American Premiere , France , 2007, French w/English subtitles) Director: Mohammed Ismael. Festival synopsis: A new film by director Mohamed Ismail discusses the relationship of two Moroccan families one Jewish, the other Muslim during a time of social upheaval in the 1960s. The film, shot mostly in Casablanca and Tetouan, depicts the situation of Moroccan Jews during the period known as the "Black Years of Emigration," when there was a pervading sense of hesitation between two conflicting desires: remaining in Morocco or uprooting themselves to emigrate. Aviva My Love (Aviva Ahuvati) (Israel, 2006, Hebrew w/English subtitles) Director: Shemi Zarhin. Producer: Eytan Evan. Festival synopsis: The touching story of a hard-working mother in the small northern Israeli town of Tiberias . For years she has kept her remarkable writing skills under wraps, until her sister introduces her to Oded, an accomplished novelist who becomes her mentor. Aviva is on the brink of fulfilling her lifelong dream to become a published author, when she finds that her novelist mentor has other plans for her work. She learns about pursuing ones dream in the face of brutal ambition and family obligations. Winner of six Israeli Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Script. Black Over White (New York Premiere , Israel, 2007, 50 mins Hebrew, Amharic w/English subtitles) Director: Tomer Heymann. Festival synopsis: The Idan Raichel Project" is a huge hit in Israel and worldwide for good reason: it envisions a modern, multicultural nation where voices of young and old, Ethiopian and Yemenite, unite in a unique and extraordinary sound. The film takes us on a journey to the groups musical origins in Ethiopia , and to the personal origins of singer Cabra Kasai, who was born on the way from Ethiopia to Israel , but had never before been in the country of her ancestors. This is a story about longing for home, and discovering identity. Exodus: Ada s Dream (North American Premiere , Italy , 2007, 140 mins Italian w/English subtitles.) Director: Gianluigi Calderone. Tribute to Israel @ 60. Festival synopsis: Based on the true story of Ada Sereni, who became a leader of the Aliyah Bet, helping the underground Jewish Brigade bring survivors to Palestine in 1945. She and her husband, Enzo, had moved to Palestine and founded a kibbutz where their three children were born. Enzo was parachuted into Germany to help save Jews, and was captured and sent to Mathausen. Ada , in her search for him, was asked by the Aliyah Bet to become their point person in Italy . The film shows her travels through Germany and Poland in search of Enzo, and her decision to accept the request of the Aliyah Bet. She mediated the departure of the ships both with the British and Italian Prime Ministers. Post-screening discussion. Family Heroes (Le Héros de Famille) (US Premiere, France, 2006, 107 mins, French w/English subtitles) Director: Thierry Klifa. Producer: Saïd Ben Saïd. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Miou-Miou , Gérard Lanvin, Emmanuelle Béart, Géraldine Pailhas, Pascal Elbé , Valérie Lemercier, Mathilde Seigner. Partial nudity. Festival synopsis: The story unfolds with the unexpected death of the cabaret owner of the Blue Parrot (in Nice , France ), and his decision to leave his establishment not to his protege of the past 40 years, Nicky Guazzini, but rather to Nicky's children by different mothers. The result is confusion and pain, followed by secrets revealed and lives turned upside down. (Presented solely by American Sephardi Federation.) I Got No Jeep and My Camel Died (US Premiere. Israel , 2006, 65 mins Hebrew w/English subtitles) Director: Ehud Tomalak, Producers: Aida and Amos Michaeli. Festival synopsis: Like the historical Perfume Road , the film portrays the musical journey of Yair Dalal, from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean , from antiquity to modern times and from performing in front of Bedouins to his nomination for the BBC World Music Award. Inspired by the Jewish masters of Iraqi music, he vows to carry on their vanishing legacy. A native Middle-Eastern Israeli, Dalal struggles for recognition in his roots by establishing "Almya" his music school in Jaffa , realizing a social cultural bridge between East and West. The Jews of Lebanon (le Petite Histoire des Juifs de Liban) (2006, 77 mins France/Lichtenstein) Director: Yves Turquier. Festival synopsis: In the 1960s, there were nearly 8,000 Jews in Lebanon ; Today there are less than 60. Through the stories of community members, now scattered all over the world, this film recounts their times of happiness, and then their exile to many countries -- among them the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brasil, Israel, France, Italy, and Switzerland. The filming of this documentary took place in all of these countries, and tells of their hopes and hardships, and the attempt to vividly preserve the memory of the last Jews of Lebanon. Post-screening discussion with the director. Ladino - 500 Years Young (Israel, 2006, 52mins. Ladino, Spanish, Hebrew w/English subtitles) Director: Rina Papish. Festival synopsis: Yasmin Levy, an electrifying 29-year-old Israeli singer, is following in the footsteps of her father, Yitzhak Levy, a revered singer who dedicated his life to recording and documenting the musical culture of Ladino, the ancient language of the Jews of Spain. Since her father died when she was only one, Yasmin knows him only through his songs, but she has taken it upon herself to immortalize and disseminate the musical legacy that he helped preserve. Ladino follows Yasmin on a powerful and exciting singing tour in Israel and Spain . Some Israelis view it as a tragic, diasporic language, but Levy is determined to keep it alive. Since their expulsion from Spain in 1492, generations of Sephardic Jews succeeded in maintaining the Ladino language, a hybrid of Hebrew, Spanish, Turkish and Greek. Like its Eastern European counterpart Yiddish, Ladino is not merely a language but a culture, kept alive in part by a rich musical tradition of songs and melodies. But today's descendants of Ladino speakers are fast losing touch with Ladino; Even in Israel , where approximately 200,000 people still speak or understand some Ladino, this rich and beautiful culture is in danger of becoming extinct. The Last Jews of Libya ( USA, 2007, 75 mins, Hebrew, English, Italian, Arabic w/English subtitles) Director: Vivienne Roumani-Denn. Producer: Aryeh Bourkoff. Festival synopsis: Through the story of her own family, who moved from Benghazi to Boston when she was 12 years old, Vivienne Roumani-Denn tells the story of Libyan Jewry, an ancient Sephardic community that lived on the southern shores of the Mediterranean for hundreds of years. At the end of World War II, there were 36,000 Jews remaining in Libya . Not one remains today; They have scattered to the four corners of the earth. The film takes us back to the period of Ottoman rule, through the Fascist occupation under Mussolini and the subsequent Nazi occupation, and to the Arab nationalism that dealt the final blow to the ancient Jewish community. Rare archival segments (still photographs and film) show Libya during the 20th century, providing the special flavor that permeates this film. Isabella Rossellinis narration makes elegant transitions between the speakers, and casts additional light on their stories. Post-screening discussion with the director. Leaving Paradise: The Jews of Jamaica (U.S. Premiere , Jamaica , 2007) Director: Melanie Levy. Producer: Chandra Simon. Festival synopsis: A lively and colourful look at the little know Jewish Community In Kingston, Jamaica . They have existed on the island for over 350 years, and possess one of the only five extant synagogues in the world with a white sand floor. Key characters make for a unique, and vibrant cast and drive the film as they discuss their efforts to keep the community alive despite economic and cultural challenges. Mortgage (Israel, 2006, 55 mins Hebrew w/English subtitles) Directors: Tal Granit and Sharon Maymon. Festival synopsis: A comic drama that examines how far a young couple from Ramle will go in order to save their home. Beny and Esty love each other very much, but one day they find themselves unemployed, and the bank is about to confiscate their apartment if they don't settle their mortgage debt within a month. The two search for creative solutions to obtain the money, while each of them believes that his solution is saner. As the confiscation date approaches, the relationship is marred, but their deep love holds in store a very precious surprise. Nuba of Gold and Light (2007, Morocco and France ) Director: Izza Genini. Operation Mural (US Premiere, 2007, 55 mins Israel , Hebrew, English, French w/English subtitles) Director: Yehuda Kaveh. Producer: Ronit Dor. Tribute to Israel @ 60. This film is presented in collaboration with the Dorot Division of the New York Public Library and the Institute for Sephardic Studies, CUNY Graduate Center . Festival synopsis: Forty-five years after their clandestine mission, three Mossad agents return to Casablanca to retrace their steps in a humanitarian mission whereby 530 Jewish children reached Israel in 1961, under the guise of holidays in Switzerland . A special collective passport system was initiated, and then used with royal consent for the aliyah of 100,000 Jews in Operation Yakhin (1962-64). This film vividly documents how Operation Mural (16 March 24 July 1961 ) succeeded beyond all expectations. The key actors relive their undercover activities: Mural, code-name of David Gerald Littman himself unaware that the operation was directed by the Mossad and his contacts, Georges and Jacques, assisted by a dedicated local group of Jewish youth (the Misgeret). There are many precious testimonies of children and key Mossad figures in Israel , and the Littmans in Switzerland including a visit to the Home de la Forêt. This film documents a forgotten story, adding a new page to Israel s heroic birth and history. Sallah Shabati (Israel, 1964, 110 mins Hebrew w/English subtitles) Director: Ephraim Kishon. Festival synopsis: This comedy, about the chaos of Israeli immigration and resettlement, introduced actor Chaim Topol (Fiddler on the Roof) to audiences worldwide. An Oriental Jewish family moves to a settlement camp in Israel in 1949. The patriarch, a lazy rube, tries several schemes to make money and get housing, but becomes tangled up by slick politicians, government bureaucracy, European and Oriental Jews, the nearby kibbutz, and his marriageable daughter. This social satire placed the director, Ephraim Kishon, and producer, Menahem Golan, among the first Israeli filmmakers to achieve international success. This film was nominated for a 1964 Academy Award in the category of Best Foreign Language Film, a first for an Israeli production, but lost to the Italian film, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Categorized as a Bourekas film, Sallah Shabati will be part of the discussion following the screening on this Israeli cinematic genre that has strong similarities to the exploitation films of the US. Souvenirs ( Israel , 2006, 75 mins, Hebrew w/English subtitles) Directors: Shahar Cohen and Halil Efrat. Music: Shai Bachar. Audience Award winner - New York s Tribeca Film Festival Festival synopsis: Shahar, having completed his studies, is an unemployed filmmaker. His father, Sleiman, a strict 82 year old Yemenite, suggests that Shahar make a film about the Jewish Brigade, in which he served during WW II. Shahars motivation comes when he realizes that his father may have left some "souvenirs" with local girls while stationed in Amsterdam . He decides to make the film hoping to find his fathers lost offspring, and maybe lessen some of the burden of his fathers criticism. They set out together on the trail of the Jewish Brigade, beginning in Israel and continuing through Italy , Germany and ending in Holland , with a surprising discovery. With humor and compassion the film exposes a complex father-son relationship and raises universal questions and thoughts about the tension between myths of bravery and reality and between memory and historical truth. TICKET INFORMATION Tickets can be purchased in advance online at www.ticketweb.com, through the Center for Jewish History Box Office, 15 West 16th Street . Sunday through Thursday 11am - 5pm ; And one hour prior to screenings, or by calling 917.6O6.82OO. Festival Venues American Sephardi Federation/Sephardic House at the Center for Jewish History 15 West 16th Street (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues The JCC in Manhattan 334 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street For Further Information on the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival please visit: http://www.americansephardifederation.org Presenting Sponsors: New York State Council on the Arts, Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in New York , The JCC in Manhattan ASF/SH is a national organization whose mission is to preserve and support the rich cultural traditions, spirit and history of all Sephardic communities as an integral part of Jewish experience and heritage. In addition to the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival, ASFs activities include maintaining the only public Sephardic Library and Archives in the U.S., rich educational and cultural public programs, publishing books on Sephardic history and culture, The Sephardi Report, a journal featuring content from scholarly events, lectures and exhibitions, and the Broome and Allen Scholarship Fund for Sephardic studies and scholars. Yeshiva University Museum Since its founding in 1973, Yeshiva University Museum s changing exhibits have celebrated the culturally diverse intellectual and artistic achievements of 3,000 years of Jewish experience. The Museum provides a window into Jewish culture around the world and throughout history through its acclaimed multi-disciplinary exhibitions and award-winning publications. By educating audiences of all ages with dynamic interpretations of Jewish life, past and present, along with wide-ranging cultural offerings and programs, the Museum attracts young and old, Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. Centro Primo Levi Centro Primo Levi (CPL) was founded in New York in 2001, to promote research and cultivate awareness of the history, culture and traditions of the Jews of Italy. An offspring of the Genoa-based organization Centro Culturale Primo Levi, CPL's main projects include the creation of the Digital Library for Italian Jewish Studies and the development of public programs and seminars.


	Dude, that title was hilarious.


	Israel @ 60 May 28 to June 5 Avenge But One of My Two Eyes Nekram Achat Mishtey Eynay Dir. By Avi Mograbi, Israel/France, 2005; 104m Campfire Medurat Hashevet Dir. By Joseph Cedar, Israel, 2004; 96m Checkpoint Machssomim Dir. By Yoav Shamir, Israel, 2003; 80m Close to Home Karov La Bayit Dir. By 'Vidi' Vardit Bilu & Dalia Hager, Israel, 2006; 98m Disengagement Désengagement Dir. By Amos Gitai, Israel/France/Germany/Italy, 2007; 116m The Inner Tour Dir. By Raanan Alexandrowicz, Israel, 2001; 94m Kaddim Wind: Moroccan Chronicles Ruah Kaddim Chronika Marokait Dir. By David Benchetrit, Israel, 2002; 255m Late Marriage Hatuna Meuheret Dir. By Dover Koshashvili, Israel/France, 2001; 100m Live and Become Va, vis et deviens Dir. By Radu Mihaileanu, Israel/Belgium/France/Italy, 2005; 140m No. 17 Dir. by David Ofek, Israel, 2003; 75m Or (My Treasure) Dir. By Keren Yedaya, Israel/France, 2004; 100m Purity: Breaking the Codes of Silence Tehora Dir. By Anat Zuria, Israel, 2002; 65m Three Mothers Shalosh Imaot Dir. By Dina Zvi-Riklis, Israel, 2006; 106m Thirst Atash Dir. By Tawfik Abu Wael, Israel/Palestine, 2004; 110m Ushpizin Dir. By Giddi Dar, Israel, 2004; 90m


	Avenge But One of My Two Eyes This review is only for the parts of the film that I actually saw before finally walking out ... That said, it must have a dandy of an ending to justify the two FRESH reviews RT has logged in (along with 1 ROTTEN, plus mine)! 2 stars [Nekam Achat Mishtey Eynay/(2005)docu/France-Israel] - (1 hr. 40 min.) Directed by Avi Mograbi Featuring: Avi Mograbi (talking on telephone) Shredi Jabarin is the palestinian friend (voice on telephone) Mini-review: Every now and then a film will 'slip through the cracks' and make it into a festival due to its controversial content. Such is the case with this 'obvious' documentary about the Israeli military presence in Jerusalem and its environs. Sadly, the filmmaker did not have a proper windscreen for his boom microphone and much of the sound is marred by wind-noise that you can hear blowing across the mike. By opening the film with a tour guide's description of the famous 'Masada' rebellion and the suicides of hundreds of trapped Jews you would think this film was pro-Israeli. However, as the documentary progresses an irony is explored whereby the former Jews held captive by the Romans were now engaging in the same military practice by controlling the local Palestinian population. While anti-Israeli movie audiences will flock to a film like this, the message is sorely diluted by the poor technical skills of the filmmaking team. The director appears in a non-sensical telephone conversation with a friend who is being victimized by the Israeli occupation. Overall message is presented in an 'obvious' manner that may insult already knowledgeable audiences, but the Q&A following the film could be more interesting than the film itself. You've been warned! French distrib-Website


	CAMPFIRE Strong 'period' Israeli family drama that reveals how one girl's coming-of-age changes her life forever while her unknowing mother struggles with the process being one of the first Jews to relocate to the West Bank (circa 1981)! 3 stars [Medurat hashevet campfire/(2004)Israel/2005 USA release/FilmMovement.com] - (1 hr. 36 min.) Written and directed by Joseph Cedar Characters/Cast Rachel Gerlik (the mother) - Michaela Eshet Tami Gerlik (teen daughter) - Hani Furstenburg Esti (oldest daughter) - Maya Maron Yossi (the bus driver) - Moshe Ivgy Review: Interesting family drama that may resonate a bit more historically for Jewish audiences, but certainly scores across-the-board with its portrayal of a young girl's too-rapid coming-of-age. The film opens in Jerusalem (circa 1981), just about the time of the first Israeli Settlement movement on the West Bank. Following a one year imposed period of mourning for her deceased husband, 42 yr. Old 'Rachel' (Michaela Eshet) decides that she will embark on a new life in a new land. With one stipulation, she and her family must pass the guidelines of the acceptance committee. An early 'interview' scene has Rachel practically grovelling before the new community leaders as she insists she wants to be with "people like you." One major problem for Rachel is that she doesn't have a husband so she is put on a 'trial period' pending her acceptance, then she is immediately set up with an old bachelor who seems unappealing (at first). On the plus side, he does own and drive his own bus, plus he likes Chinese restaurants? Oh well, what's a 40-something gal in the city going to do, especially when she'll need a helping hand setting up her own homestead in the sticks. The relationship proceeds in fits and starts and then is complicated as other suitors enter the picture. While mom's busy man-hunting it seems her teen daughter 'Tami', as portrayed in a wonderful performance by Hani Furstenburg, is trying to enter adulthood a bit early. As a virgin she is completely unaware of the opportunities she is giving the local youth group boys who are seeking someone to fulfill their horny desires. Her learning curve comes suddenly at the 'campfire' gathering about midway through the film. The denouement is not what you'd expect and I'm not going to spoil it by telling you. I will say though that if you enjoyed "The Holy Girl" earlier this year then this is another opportunity to see a great performance by a new young actress. Also, this film was selected by the Israeli Oscar committee last year for the Foreign Film selection (but it was passed over). Don't be as foolish as the Oscar folk were, check this one out. Solid family dramas like these are few and far between, plus a little Middle Eastern history goes a long way, especially in times like these. Additional cast: Motkeh - Assi Dayan Rafi - Oshri Cohen Moshe Weinstock - Yehoram Gaon Yoel - Yehuda Levi Oded - Avi Grainik Shula - Edith Teperson Gozlan - Itay Turgeman Yaniv- Barak Lizork Ilan - Danny Zahavi Inbal - Dina Senderson Yair - Ofer Seker


	Checkpoint Yet another example of the daily "humiliation" that Palestines face when moving about the territories! 3 stars [Machssomim/(2003)Video-docu/Israel] - (1 hr 20 min) Dir. And photographed by Yoav Shamir Mini-Review: The great documentaries keep on coming with CHECKPOINT, a condensation of 2 years of incidents shot at checkpoints surrounding various Israeli communities. If you thought the roadblocks in NYC (after 9/11) were bad (or airport check-ins), then you ain't seen nothing yet! And people wonder why there's so much anger in the Middle East, this is an exercise in frustration cubed!


	Or (My Treasure) Like "Nobody Knows," this is another powerful and realistic drama where the daughter is forced to be the parent ... Until her teenage urges take over! 3 stars [Mon Tresor/(2004)France-Israel/2005 USA release/Unrated] - (1 hr. 40 min.) [In Hebrew (subtitled) / USA distrib: Kino] Co-written & directed by Keren Yedaya Co-writer: Sari Ezouz Characters/Cast Ruthie - Ronit Elkabetz Or - Dana Ivgy Ido - Meshar Cohen Dana Ivgy is 'Or' Review: Amazingly realistic story that starts out as a grim but heartening story of a young girl's attempt to reform her lazy mother. Having just left the hospital, 'Ruthie' (the mother) wiggles into her hot pants and prepares to go back to turning tricks no the street. Ruthie is too old to get a 'regular' job in a proper brothel and her street customers frequently give her physical violence in lieu of a tip. These are more than enough reasons for teen daughter 'Or' to step and 'play' parent by locking her mother inside the apartment and forcing mom to start a new job as a cleaning lady. Both actresses give compelling performances but the more 'Or' does for Ruthie the more she realizes that the 'apple doesn't fall far from the tree' in terms of seeing the opportunities that prostitution can offer a young woman when the alternative is working long hours as a pot scrubber in a restaurant. This is not a formula movie like "thirteen" and has both humor and poignancy galore. Check it out!!! - DISTRIB WEBSITE: Kino Synopsis from 2004 New York Film Festival program: Winner of this year's Camera d'or at Cannes for best first feature, Keren Yedaya's riveting psychological study focuses on an aging Tel Aviv prostitute and her eighteen-year-old daughter, Or, who fights to keep her mother off the streets, even to the point of locking her indoors. Immensely winning if perhaps overly confident, Or is convinced that she has all the right answers and that she can redirect this helpless woman into a new occupation. The girl is not without her own sexual desires, which complicates her role as puritanical overseer. Grounded in a rich specificity of detail about daily life in working-class Tel Aviv, favoring moral doubt over pat judgments, Or avoids clichés, evades political speechmaking, and unfolds with a simple, direct visual style unerringly suited to its material. This remarkably self-assured debut offers us glimpses of a substratum of Israeli society rarely seen onscreen.


	USHPIZIN Not necessarily a "comedy" for gentiles, but great acting and the power of God helps to make this entertaining for all filmgoers regardless of religious belief! 3 stars (for Gentiles) / 3-1/2 stars for practicing Jews [Ha'Ushpizin/(2005)Israel/PictureHouse/Rated PG] - (1 hr. 31 min.) Note: "ushpizin" is Aramaic for guests Directed by Gidi Dar Screenplay by Shuli Rand (also stars) Characters/Cast Moshe - Shuli Rand Mali (his wife) - Michal Bat Sheva Rand Eliahu (Guest #1) - Shaul Mizrahi Yosef (Guest #2) - Ilan Gannai The Rabbi - Daniel Dayan Ben Baruch - Avraham Abutboul Shuli Rand Review: Real life Orthodox Jewish couple Shuli and Michal Bat Sheva Rand explore the power of prayer and then suffer the curse of the old adage, 'be careful what you wish for, you just might get it'. In a religious culture that demands a male heir only God can bring comfort to the childless or sow seed where it once was barren (as in the story of Abraham and Sarah). Short of money too, the couple's prayers for cash are miraculously answered so they may then prepare for the Jewish Holy Week and pray for 'ushpizin' (or guests) to fulfill the blessing of God. What they get instead is two escaped convicts who take advantage of the couple's hospitality and more, since one of the men holds a secret of the his dark past with the now ultra-religious husband. Although many of the Jewish audience members at the screening I attended found many more humorous elements in this film that I could ever have, the overall ultra-religious setting and fantastic acting by lead actor (and writer) Shuli Rand help to make this film accessible to non-Jewish people too. Not to mention this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get a glimpse inside a very secretive community and dispel any rumors and prejudices that may exist regarding the Orthodox community. Even though I can't tell the proper way to convene a sukkah I did find this a worthwhile trip to the theater and I'm sure that the filmmakers hope (and pray) that you will think so too. Check it out, especially to see what will be one of the great unsung performances of the year by Shuli Rand. Additional cast: Gabai - Yonathan Danino Ethrog Assessor - Michael Vaigel Elazar - Daniel Rand Charity - Yizhak Levkovits Wolf - Shmuel Ovadia MOVIE website


	What's in your local arthouse theater ... RIGHT NOW!!! the Band's Visit [Bikur Ha-Tizmoret/(2007)Israel-France-US/2008 USA release/SPC/Rated PG-13] - IMDb rating: 7.8 - EXPANDS to 8 NEW theaters (click title for venue info / NOT in NYC / *DVD available: July 29, 2008) (Cannes '07) Shira Geffen's "JELLYFISH" [Meduzot/(2007)France-Israel/2008 USA release/Zeitgeist/78 min] - IMDb rating: 7.6 - EXPANDS to 6 NEW theaters (click title for venue info / HELD OVER @ the Cinema village in Manhattan) My Father, My Lord [Hofshat Kaits/(2007)Israel/2008 USA release/2008 USA release/Kino/72 min] - EXPANDS to Brooklyn & White Plains, NY (check local listings / HELD OVER @ the Cinema village in Manhattan)


	Quote: : What's in your local arthouse theater ... RIGHT NOW!!! the Band's Visit [Bikur Ha-Tizmoret/(2007)Israel-France-US/2008 USA release/SPC/Rated PG-13] - IMDb rating: 7.8 - EXPANDS to 8 NEW theaters (click title for venue info / NOT in NYC / *DVD available: July 29, 2008) (Cannes '07) Shira Geffen's "JELLYFISH" [Meduzot/(2007)France-Israel/2008 USA release/Zeitgeist/78 min] - IMDb rating: 7.6 - EXPANDS to 6 NEW theaters (click title for venue info / HELD OVER @ the Cinema village in Manhattan) My Father, My Lord [Hofshat Kaits/(2007)Israel/2008 USA release/2008 USA release/Kino/72 min] - EXPANDS to Brooklyn & White Plains, NY (check local listings / HELD OVER @ the Cinema village in Manhattan) I'm not a huge fan of jewish cinema but the Band's Visit is quite appealing to most audiences.


	I hate to be an here but aren't all films made by Jews.


	JEWISH NEW YEAR SALE Rosh Hashana begins at sundown on September 29th and marks the start of the Jewish High Holidays. According to Jewish belief, the time in between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is one of reflection, repentance and reconciliation. Though these themes run throughout the First Run Features catalog of films, they are nowhere more present than in our Jewish Experience Collection. Wherever the Days of Awe may find you, we invite you to explore this incredible selection of films. The titles featured here are specially priced at 40% off through October 1, 2008! THE GRAND ROLE Thinking he has been cast in a Yiddish version of The Merchant of Venice, struggling Parisian actor Maurice tells his beloved wife Perla. But when the part goes to another, Maurice must play the role of his life to be sure she doesn't find out. LINK-http://echo.bluehornet.com/ct/2567840:1332342265:m:3:66232253:635C0B8F3C3350B609 D9055553FEE5EC HIDING AND SEEKING This award-winning documentary tells the dramatic and emotional story of a Jewish father who journeys with his two utlra-orthodox sons to Poland to try to find the Christian farmers who hid their family from the Nazis. LINK-http://echo.bluehornet.com/ct/2567837:1332342265:m:3:66232253:635C0B8F3C3350B609 D9055553FEE5EC A LIFE APART Seven years in the making, this extraordinarily intimate film takes us into the mysterious and joyous world of the Hasidic Jews, revealing a place few outsiders have seen and fewer yetcould imagine. LINK-http://echo.bluehornet.com/ct/2567838:1332342265:m:3:66232253:635C0B8F3C3350B609 D9055553FEE5EC SPARK AMONG THE ASHES In this emotional documentary, a 13-year-old Connecticut boy stands at the center of a complex human drama that attracts world-wide attention when he travels to Cracow to participate in the first bar mitzvah there since the War. LINK-http://echo.bluehornet.com/ct/2567842:1332342265:m:3:66232253:635C0B8F3C3350B609 D9055553FEE5EC A TICKLE IN THE HEART An international smash hit and the world's most popular film about klezmer music, A Tickle in the Heart captures the story of the Epstein Brothers - Max, Willie and Julius - klezmer legends on a joyous (and hilarious) international tour. LINK-http://echo.bluehornet.com/ct/2567835:1332342265:m:3:66232253:635C0B8F3C3350B609 D9055553FEE5EC WE WERE SO BELOVED Between 1933 and 1941 thousands of Jews fled Nazi Germany and Austria for America. Leaving behind brothers, sisters andparents, more than 20,000 of them came together in Washington Heights in New York City. LINK-http://echo.bluehornet.com/ct/2567834:1332342265:m:3:66232253:635C0B8F3C3350B609 D9055553FEE5EC YANA'S FRIENDS During the Gulf War in Israel in 1991, a young, beautiful and pregnant Russian immigrant is abandoned by her husband and left to fend for herself in the flat she shares with Eli, a wedding photographer with a passion for women. LINK-http://echo.bluehornet.com/ct/2567839:1332342265:m:3:66232253:635C0B8F3C3350B609 D9055553FEE5EC Browse our complete Jewish Experience Collection: LINK-http://echo.bluehornet.com/ct/2567836:1332342265:m:3:66232253:635C0B8F3C3350B609 D9055553FEE5EC


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	Sixty Six [(2006)UK/2008 USA release/FirstIndependent/Rated PG-13] - (1 hr 33 min) -IMDb rating: 6.7 (out of 10) Logline (1-line synopsis): A boy's barmitzvah looks set to be a disaster when it coincides with the 1966 World Cup Final. MOVIE website-http://www.66thefilm.com/


	23rd ISRAEL FILM FESTIVAL TO SHOWCASE THE BEST OF ISRAELI CINEMA IN CELEBRATION OF ISRAELS 60TH ANNIVERSARY October 29- November 13, 2008 DANNY DEVITO, IRWIN WINKLER and EDWARD ZWICK To Receive Festival Honors Presented by MICHAEL DOUGLAS, MORT ZUCKERMAN, and LIEV SCHREIBER At Opening Night Gala, October 29, 2008 At The Ziegfeld Theatre Opening Night Film, US Premiere of Reshef Levys Lost Islands Festival To Screen Over 30 Films With 10 Making their U.S. Premiere At Clearviews 62nd & Broadway Cinema October 14, 2008, New York - The 23rd Israel Film Festival will kick off in New York on October 29th at the Ziegfeld Theatre and run through November 13th at the Clearviews 62nd & Broadway Cinema. Meir Fenigstein, Founder and Executive Director, announced today the full lineup of films for this years Festival which showcases more than 30 new feature films, provocative documentaries, ground-breaking TV dramas, and innovative student films celebrating Israeli life and culture. The Israel Film Festival will present over 10 U.S. Premieres, 5 East Coast Premieres and 7 NY Premieres. The 23rd Israel Film Festivals Opening Night Awards presentation will take place at the Ziegfeld Theatre on October 29th, 2008. Oscar nominated and Emmy award winning actor, director, producer and writer, Danny DeVito (Taxi, Get Shorty, War of the Roses, Erin Brockovich) will be the recipient of the Lifetime Visionary Award presented by Michael Douglas. Oscar winning producer and director, Irwin Winkler (Rocky, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, The Right Stuff) will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by publisher Mort Zuckerman. And, Oscar winning director, writer, producer, Edward Zwick (Glory, Blood Diamond) will receive the Israel Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film presented by Liev Schreiber. The Festivals Opening Night Film will follow the awards ceremony with the US premiere of Reshef Levys Lost Islands. The biggest Box Office success in Israel in 2008, this autobiographic drama is the winner of 4 Israeli Academy Film Awards 2008, including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. The film centers on the large and unique Levi family. Mr. Levi stresses the importance of fulfilling your dreams, while his wife preaches absolute family loyalty. When twin brothers, Erez and Ofer, fall in love with the same girl, they must choose between family loyalty and love. A reception with all guests and filmmakers from Israel including Lost Islands director, Reshef Levy, and Lost Islands actor, Michael Moshonov, will follow at the Flatotel. A portion of the proceeds from the 23rd IFF Opening Night Gala will provide scholarships to exceptional Israeli film students from six film schools in Israel including: The Sam Spiegel Film & T.V. School Jerusalem, Sapir Academic College Shderot, Ma'ale School of Television Film & Arts, Tel Aviv University- Film and Television Dept., Hamidrasha Biat Berl Collage and Tel Hai Communication Center for Cinema. The Co-Chairs of the 2008 Israel Film Festival are Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, and Arnon Milchan, Owner/Founder, Regency Enterprises. Among the Special Guests coming in from Israel and around the world to participate in the 23rd Israel Film Festival galas, films, panels and programs are: Riki Shelach / Producer (ALTALENA); Assaf Bernstein / Director (THE DEBT); Marco Carmel / Director (FATHERS FOOTSTEPS); Lynn Roth / Director (THE LITTLE TRAITOR); Avi Nesher / Director (THE SECRETS); Igal Burstyn / Director, Shuki Friedman/ Producer (OUT OF THE BLUE); Amos Kollek / Director, Michael Tapuach / Producer (RESTLESS); Reshef Levy / Director, Michael Moshonov / Actor (LOST ISLANDS); Ran Tal / Director (CHILDREN OF THE SUN); Yael Katzir / Director (PRAYING IN HER OWN VOICE); Oded Lotan / Director (THE QUEST FOR THE MISSING PIECE); Boaz Shahak / Director (YOU NEVER KNOW); Barak Heymann / Director (DANCING ALFONSO); Tomer Heymann / Director (OUT OF FOCUS); Barak & Tomer Heymann / Directors, Scriptwriters, Producers (BRIDGE OVER THE WADI); Tomer Heymann / Director, Scriptwriter (IT KINDA SCARES ME); Ori Ravid / Director (ELI & BEN); Eliezer (Laizy) Shapiro / Director (SRUGIM). Whatever the situation has been in Israel or America, the IsraFest Foundation hasthanks to continued support of our sponsors and audiencesput on a festival every year, showing people the richness and humanity of Israeli life and culture, and the talent of our filmmakers. We hope the New York audience can once again join us in recognizing the great success of the Israeli film industry around the world, says Meir Fenigstein, Founder and Executive Director of the Israel Film Festival in the US. Other film highlights include the Homage to Barak & Tomer Heymann on Friday, November 7th with a retrospective of films and a Q & A with the directors. Founded by Tomer Heymann, one of the leading documentary directors in Israel, the almost 10 year old Heymann Brothers Films Company specializes in long term documentary projects with a social and political orientation. The four films that will be screened are: Bridge Over the Wadi, Dancing Alfonso, Out of Focus, and It Kinda Scares Me (which won the Academy Award in Israel in addition to several other awards). There will also be the opportunity to join Israeli Filmmakers for panel discussions and Q&As about the success of Israeli cinema worldwide. The Feature Filmmaker Panel will take place, Saturday, November 1 following the screening of Fathers Footsteps at 7:00PM and the Documentary Filmmaker Panel will take place, Sunday, November 2 following the screenings of Homeland and Children of the Sun at 4:15PM. The Israel Film Festival will present the Panavision Audience Choice Awards at the Closing Night Ceremony. This year, the winning filmmakers will receive a $60,000 Panavision 35mm Camera Package for one month of filming their next project which is to be shot in Israel. With films ranging from cinéma vérité and comedies to thought-provoking, powerful dramas and documentaries, the Festival will highlight Israels culturally rich landscape overflowing with filmmakers who have produced remarkable movies. FESTIVAL NARRATIVE FEATURES: ALTALENA (US Premiere) Director: Eli Cohen- A dramatized version of the tragedy of the ship Altalena, in which 960 new immigrants, most of them Holocausts survivors, were caught in the middle of a conflict that most could not even believe possible. The film deals with the uncompromising struggle between David Ben Gurion and Menachem Begin, over the distribution of weapons, the disbandment of the paramilitary organizations, and the character of opposition in a democratic state. Had it not been for this rivalry, perhaps the tragic end of the episode could have been avoided. (77 minutes) THE DEBT (US Premiere) Director: Assaf Bernstein-When an article appears in a small central Europeans local newspaper saying that THE SURGON OF TREBLINCA, a Nazi monster who captured and held prisoner by Rachel Brener and 2 other young Mossad agents in 1965, and had been thought to have committed suicide before trial, is actually alive and willing to admit all of his crimes, these 3 agents find themselves in a threatening situation. Now 30 years later, the 60-something ex- agents must cover their asses, and eliminate him before the truth of what really happened and how the Surgeon escaped comes out. (93 minutes.) ELI & BEN (US Premiere) Director: Ori Ravid- Eli is 12-years-old and his world is turned upside down when his father, the City Architect of Herzelya, is charged with taking bribes. The father is taken into custody right before Eli's eyes and the news makes its way into the newspaper and the school ground alike. Eli is convinced that his father is innocent. He intends to draw on the full reserves of his innocence and mischief to see to it that his father is released. But the path would not be easy. Eli will have to face injustice, corruption and pretence, among both adults and children. He will have to shape his own principles and stick to them. In the process he will re-discover his father and taste the bitter sting of first love. (89 minutes.) FATHERS FOOTSTEPS (US Premiere) Director: Marco Carmel- In the early 70s, Felix, Mireille and their children move from Israel to the working-class Parisian neighborhood of Belleville where Felix meets Serve, a local gang leader who leads Felix down the path of organized crime and eventually into the position of gang leader after Serves arrest. The shame pushes Mireille to tell the children that their father has gone back to Israel to join the army. Tensions cause Michael, Felixs son to follow in her fathers violent footsteps and it is up to Mireille to hold her family together and protect them from themselves. (90 minutes.) THE GALILEE ESKIMOS (US Premiere) Director: Jonathan Paz- The evening prior to the arrival of the bailiffs at a bankrupted Kibbutz, the great exodus begins and all the people gather their possessions and abandon their homes. The contractor hired by the bank arrives at the kibbutz astonished to find these abandoned old-timers who after struggling, later begin to organize and rebuild the kibbutz. A film about the latent power revealed when senior citizens are abandoned, betrayed, and left to determine their own fate. (99 minutes.) THE LITTLE TRAITOR (NY Premiere) Director: Lynn Roth- Palestine 1947. Proffy Liebowitz, a militant yet sensitive twelve year old wants nothing more than for the occupying British to get the hell out of his land. Proffy and his two friends are always plotting ways to terrorize the British until one evening, while hes out after curfew, Proffy is seized by Sargeant Dunlop, a British officer. Instead of arresting him, he escorts him back home but what ensues in the weeks to come is a friendship between these two foes. (83 minutes.) LOST ISLANDS (US Premiere) Director: Reshef Levy- The biggest Box Office success in Israel in 2008, the autobiographic drama centers around the large and unique Levi family. Mr. Levi stresses the importance of fulfilling your dreams, while his wife preaches absolute family loyalty. When twin brothers, Erez and Ofer, fall in love with the same girl, they must choose between family loyalty and love. (103 minutes) OUT OF THE BLUE (US Premiere) Director: Igal Burstyn- Shabtia and Herzel drive through the streets of Tel Aviv buying and selling used furniture and trash. In Shabtais dreams he makes love to a seductive red-haired women, whom he discovers really exists after seeing her picture in a face-cream advertisement. Although he sends out to find her, it is Herzel who first wins her heart, even though he loves Batya. A comedy about abortive loves and the friendship that survives them. (92 minutes) RESTLESS (US Premiere) Director: Amos Kollek- Moshe was a moderately successful poet in Israel who never got the recognition he felt he deserved. After his son was born, he left for New York, never looking back. 20 years later his life has hit rock bottom. Tzach is a handsome young solider in an elite unit of the Israeli army who always lives on the edge. After his mothers death, Tzach finds his fathers address and decides to contact him. A film about father and son, and the elusive quest for redemption. (100 minutes.) THE SECRETS (NY Premiere) Director: Avi Nesher- The Secrets presents the complexities of a religious lifestyle within the context of youth, rebellion and desire. Naomi postpones marriage to the prodigy of her ultra orthodox rabbi father to study at a Jewish seminary for women in the ancient Kabalistic seat of Safed following her mothers death. Her quest for individuality takes a defiant turn when she befriends a free-spirited but headstrong fellow student. Their unlikely alliance is jeopardized by a mysterious older woman Anouk, a terminally ill tortured soul shunned by the community for her crime of passion. Together, they attempt to purge her sins through a series of secret rituals. (120 minutes.) STRANGERS (NY Premiere) Director: Erez Tadmor & Guy Netiv- Described as the story of a globe-trotting, Israeli Romeo who meets a Palestinian Juliet, Strangers puts love to the test in time of war. Eyal, an Israeli kibbutznik, and Rana, an expat Palestinian living in Paris, visit Berlin for the 2006 World Cup finals where theyre forced to share an apartment after accidentally swapping backpacks. Over three intensive days their friendship turns to love as theyre drawn out of the stark reality of their lives and into a passionate affair as the second Israel-Lebanon war plays out. When its time to go home, they must decide where to go to from there. (85 minutes.) FESTIVAL FEATURE DOCUMENTARIES CHILDREN OF THE SUN (NY Premiere) Director: Ran Tal-The much talked-about winner of the Best Documentary Award at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, Children of the Sun is an unconventional history of the kibbutz movement that inspired so many of the original settlers in the Holy Land. Director Ran Tal, who himself grew up on a kibbutz, turns to other members of his generation, using their words and home movies to reveal a thoroughly fascinating, conflicted, and authentic portrait of a disappearing world. (70 minutes.) BEN GURION REMEMBERS (East Coast Premiere) Director: Simon Hasera-October 6, 1973 saw the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, what followed the very next day was the release of Ben-Gurion Remembers. Eclipsed by the war, this documentary has remained forgotten for 35 years. The original poster for the film exclaimed: How a 5000 year-old promise from God became a 25 year old nation. As Israel celebrates its 60th year of existence, the world has the opportunity to once again watch the history of a nation as it is told by Ben-Gurion, surrounded by his family and colleagues including Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan. (90 min) BRIDGE OVER THE WADI (NY Premiere) Director: Tomer Heymann & Barak Heymann- For the first time in Israel, a group of Arab and Jewish parents decide to establish a conjoint bi-national, bi-lingual school inside an Arab village. The film follows the school's first year and portrays through the personal stories of its characters, how complicated and fragile is the attempt to create an environment of co-existence against the backdrop of the complicated reality surrounding it. DANCING ALFONSO (NY Premiere) Director: Barak Heymann- Alfonso is the lead dancer in a flamenco troupe that rehearses in a Tel Aviv suburb. The average age of the group-members is over 75. After the death of his wife, Alfonso begins to obsessively court Sima, a dancer with the troupe. His children displeased, and unwilling to accept the fact that their father might be interested in another woman. "Dancing Alfonso" provides its viewers with a novel and unfamiliar portrait of the inner world of older people, and with a fresh look at our endless, but ever hopeful, search for someone to love. OUT OF FOCUS (US Premiere) Director: Tomer Heymann-For the first time, Ohad Naharin (Bat Sheva Dance Company) agrees for his creative work process to be observed and documented. The film follows Naharin's work with the dancers of the modern dance company Cedar Lake at their studio in New York. During the shooting we are exposed to Naharin's complex character and his ideological objection to the documentation of his work. The film is the result of the unique encounter between cinema and dance. IT KINDA SCARES ME Director: Tomer Heymann-This is the tale of Tomer, the director, and his social and personal odyssey from the typical Tel Aviv scene of the Coffee-house he manages, to the small town of Azur, where he works as a Youth Group counselor. Over a period of two years with the group, Tomer records the finer moments and those less fine, all of which seem beautiful in his able hands. Events that express the sense of estrangement, the other Israel, and violence, all take on a different meaning in the course of staging an original play at the local theatre. And so as the kids open up to Tomer, their confusion and chaotic inner world is revealed, and questions of their social and sexual identities are raised. As they open up, so must he. PRAYING IN HER OWN VOICE (East Coast Premiere) Director: Yael Katzir-Jewish tradition and modern life clash in this spell binding portrait of the famed Women of the Wall movement as it does battle with the ultra-orthodox establishment in Israel over the right to wear prayer shawls and read aloud from the Torah at the Western Wall. The struggle of these women is seen as a test case for the deprived status of women in Israeli public life, religious coercion, and the hunger for equality as they are followed for two years during religious services, hearings at the Israeli Supreme court and the controversial aftermath of the rulings, and violent confrontations with their opponents. (60 minutes.) THE QUEST FOR THE MISSING PIECE (East Coast Premiere) Director: Oded Lotan-A young Jewish gay man living in Tel Aviv with his German partner pieces together the story of his own bris while reflecting on the complex role his sexuality and time abroad has played in shaping his Israeli identity. Presented as a gently humorous fairy tale bridging the gap between tradition and modernity, the film sheds light on feelings toward the male-circumcision ritual, fear of exclusion and the need to belong. (52 minutes.) THE TRUE STORY OF PALESTINE (East Coast Premiere) Director: Joel Silberg-The True Story Of Palestine features the work of numerous Israeli-entertainment legends, with excerpts from hundreds of hours of film shot by Nathan Axelrod, who documents the building of a Jewish state in Palestine. Haim Topol reads Haim Hefers narration. (80 minutes.) WAITING FOR GODIK (East Coast Premiere) Director: Ari Davidovich-Nominated for the 2007 Jerusalem Film Festivals Best Documentary award, this intimate look at the rise and fall of legendary producer and impresario Giora Godik examines the Israeli King of Musicals quest to bring the American dream to Tel Aviv. That vision ended when Godik unexpectedly fled to Germany on the eve of his last premiere and ended up selling hotdogs for a living at the central railway station in Frankfurt. The film glimpses into the gap between glittering lights and a life in the shadows, bringing to life the story of a man who believed that life was a musical. (60 minutes.) YOU NEVER KNOW Director: Boaz Shahak-Shlomo Carlebach was a brilliant young torah scholar sent by the Lubavitcher rebbe to deliver scripture to hippies in the San Francisco Bay Area. When his love for flower power crossed the boundaries of Jewish law, the Orthodox establishment shunned him. Carlebach, who once boasted about having composed 4,000 original melodies, died penniless but his music still fills concert halls and his followers live in nearly every Jewish community. FESTIVAL TV DRAMAS HOMELAND (US Premiere) Director: Dani Rosenberg-Lolek, a young Holocaust survivor who has been given a new identity, arrives in Israel and is left in the middle of the desert during a war in 1948. He is assigned to an isolated post under a brutal commander and the burning sun. A stranger to the language and afflicted by homesickness and the heat, he sets out to look for some shade. (2007, 40 minutes). SRUGIM (US Premiere) Director: Eliezer (Laizy) Shapiro-A new social class of well-educated singles in their thirties is rising up in Jerusalem. They havent found their place in the existing religious framework and what was supposed to be a temporary pre-marriage existence has become rather permanent. With a religious upbringing that did not prepare them for single adulthood, these young adults work to create normal lives within the constraints of religion and tradition while seeking warmth and love. FESTIVAL HONOREES Danny DeVito , 2008 IFF Lifetime Visionary Award Honoree, is one of the most versatile talents of our time. He has won numerous awards for his work as an actor, writer, director and producer. His significant achievements in television and motion pictures include Taxi, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile, Ruthless People, Throw Momma from the Train, Twins, The War of the Roses, Batman Returns, Hoffa, Get Shorty, Matilda, L.A. Confidential, Pulp Fiction, Garden State, Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX and the Academy Award nominated Erin Brockovich. He is involved with many charitable organizations including OneVoice Movement which is working toward a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians. Irwin Winkler, 2008 IFF Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree, is an Academy award winning producer and director. Mr. Irwin Winkler has produced more than 50 acclaimed films which have received 12 Academy Awards, 45 nominations, including four Best Picture nominations for Goodfellas, The Right Stuff, Raging Bull, and the Oscar winner Rocky as well as directing De-Lovely, Life as A House, and Guilty By Suspicion among others. Mr. Winkler is the only producer to have three films listed on the American Film Institutes list of the top 100 films of all time. Mr. Edward Zwick, 2008 Outstanding Achievement In Film Award Honoree, is an award-winning writer-director-producer, has produced Traffic and the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love, and has directed acclaimed films such as Blood Diamond, Glory, Legends of the Fall, and The Last Samurai, to name a few. His most recent project, which he also directed and co-wrote, Defiance, (opening in the US December 12th), starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber, tells the incredible true story of three Jewish brothers during World War II who band together as unlikely heroes to become resistance fighters and save over 1,200 Jews from the Nazis. Over the past 23 years, the Israel Film Festival has brought hundreds of films to the United States and has introduced Israel's finest film talents to American audiences. Prior honorees of the festival include Kirk Douglas, Rob Reiner, Carl Reiner, Jeffrey Berg, Menahem Golan, Sasha Baron Cohen, Amy Pascal, Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, Bernie Brillstein, Milos Forman, Michael Fuchs, Amos Gitai, Adam Greenberg, Gale Anne Hurd, Norman Jewison, Larry King, David Linde, Sidney Lumet, Penny Marshall, Mike Medavoy, Arnon Milchen, Tom Rothman, James Schamus, Elie Wiesel and Laura Ziskin. Presenters include Dustin Hoffman, Jeff Goldblum, Adam Sandler Rachel Weisz, Kelly Preston, Bette Midler, Garry Marshall, Ashley Judd, Cameron Diaz, Isabella Rosellini, Gil Cates, Arthur Hiller and Peter Chernin, to name a few. Visit www.israelfilmfestival.com. The Israel Film Festival is presented by IsraFest Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) created in 1982, in association with the Consulate General of Israel in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. The Festival, celebrating its 23rd year, is the second oldest film festival in Southern California, and one of the only film festival that will visit three American cities. Dates of the Festivals: Los Angeles, June 11 - 26; New York, October 29-November 13; And Miami December 9 18, 2008. The Festival has been responsible for introducing Israeli life and culture to American audiences through the powerful medium of film, providing a comprehensive intercultural exchange and has brought hundreds of Israeli filmmakers to the United States to share their art. Through the years, more than 900,000 filmgoers have experienced the best of Israeli cinema by showcasing more than 800 feature films, documentaries, television dramas, short films and student shorts. This years Sponsors include Nu Image / Millennium Films, Cheryl & Haim Saban and the The Saban Family Foundation, Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson, EL AL Israel Airlines, Harbrew Imports, Israel Film Fund, Israel National Lottery for the Arts, New York Post, Time Warner Cable, Israel Tourist Ministry, Israel Finance Ministry, Aya International, Carmel Car Service, Panavision, Paramount Vantage, HBO, Park Avenue Funding, The Schecter Foundation, Bank Leumi USA, Bnai Zion, Dor Chadash, Caesarea Golf Club, Maurice Marciano Family Foundation, Guess Foundation, New Regency Productions, Hollywood Reporter, and Variety, among others.


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	Regent Releasing Acquires Rights to Animation Feature "$9.99" Stop Motion Animation Feature Premiered at TIFF '08 and is Slated for U.S. Theatrical Release in Early 2009 LOS ANGELES -- September 25, 2008 -- Regent Releasing, a leading independent U.S. Distributor, has acquired North American distribution rights to "$9.99," a superb comedy about the meaning of life and the pursuit of happiness. Regent acquired the film from international sales agent Fortissimo Films and will distribute it in select U.S. Cities in the Spring of 2009. "$9.99" is the third film Regent Releasing picked up from Fortissimo at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. The other previously announced deals were for "Serbis" and "Tokyo Sonata." The deal was negotiated by Regent's Mark Reinhart, West Coast General Manager and EVP, Distribution and Acquisitions and Fortissimo's Winnie Lau, SVP, Sales & Acquisitions. "We are thrilled to bring Tatia Rosenthal's brilliantly innovative first feature to U.S. Audiences," said Reinhart, "Regent is committed to showcasing innovative filmmaking while nurturing promising, emerging talent. Tatia and her delightful film could not be a finer opportunity to fulfill this mission." The voice cast includes Academy Award®-winning actor Geoffrey Rush ("Shine," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Elizabeth") and Anthony Lapaglia ("Lantana," "The Bank," "Happy Feet," "Without a Trace"), Joel Egerton ("Star Wars II and III") and Barry Otto ("Australia," Oscar and Lucinda" and "Strictly Ballroom"). The film was produced by Emile Sherman and Amir Harel and executive produced by Mati Broudo and Hezi Bezalel. "For $9.99, with its unique animated style and multi-faceted message, we couldn't have a better home in the U.S. Than Regent which is emerging as a cutting edge, gutsy, indie-focused player," added Lau. "They truly understand and believe in the stories from Etgar Keret and performances from the talent," she added. Based on the Short Stories of Etgar Keret, $9.99 is a stop motion animated feature which offers slightly less than $10 worth about the meaning of life. Have you ever wondered "What is the meaning of life? Why do we exist?" The answer to this vexing question is now within your reach! You'll find it in a small yet amazing booklet, which will explain, in easy to follow, simple terms your reason for being! The booklet, printed on the finest paper, contains illuminating, exquisite colour pictures, and could be yours for a mere $9.99. This is the ad that alters the life of the unemployed 28 year old who still lives at home, Dave Peck. In his struggle to share his find with the world, Dave's surreal path crosses with those of his unusual neighbors: an old man and his disgruntled guardian angel, a magician in debt, a bewitching woman who likes her men extra smooth, a broken hearted man who befriends a group of hard partying two inch tall students, and a little boy who sets his piggy bank free. Their stories are woven together, examining the post-modern meaning of hope. The concept for stop motion animation feature "$9.99" evolved out of an association between acclaimed short story writer Etgar Keret and New York-based filmmaker Tatia Rosenthal. During the development period Rosenthal was selected for the Sundance Writer's Lab, following on from which she became the first filmmaker to bring an animation project to Sundance's Director's Lab. When Rosenthal was then awarded the Richard Vague $100,000 Production Fund Award from her alma mater, NYU, she used the money to make a stop motion animation promo for $9.99. With its sardonic vision and decidedly adult approach to drama Rosenthal and Keret's feature represents a departure from the more conventional association of animation with family film. With A BUCK'S WORTH (2005) Rosenthal made a stand-alone short that interprets the opening scene of $9.99 in which a homeless man takes a lateral approach to bumming a light, a smoke and a coffee. A BUCK'S WORTH, which premiered at Sundance, wittily demonstrated how effectively animation might work in the service of a feature script that was adult drama in sensibility and audience. For more information, please visit www.regentreleasing.com About Regent Releasing Regent Releasing was founded by acclaimed film producers Paul Colichman and Stephen P. Jarchow as a division of Los Angeles-based Regent Entertainment, a 21st century independent, multi-platformed studio which utilizes its affiliates, including Regent Studios,Regent Releasing and Regent Media, to finance, produce and distribute award-winning and profitable theatrical and television content. As one of the premiere independent distribution companies worldwide, Regent Releasing has provided its discerning audience with a wide array of powerful and thought-provoking films. Notable titles include the Academy Award-winning "Gods and Monsters" starring Sir Ian McKellen and Brendan Frasier; Sundance Film Festival Award winner "Stephanie Daley," a gripping social drama starring Tilda Swinton, Amber Tamblyn and Timothy Hutton; The multiple award-winning "Aurora Borealis," starring Donald Sutherland, Joshua Jackson, Juliette Lewis and Louise Fletcher; "ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway," an entertaining look behind Broadway's curtain during one of its most prolific musical years from three-time Tony-winning Broadway producer Dori Berinstein; The powerful documentary "The Hunting of the President," based on the book concerning the right-wing agenda to destroy Bill Clinton; "Callas Forever," a stunning fictionalized account of the last days of opera singer Maria Callas and her relationship with manager Larry Kelly, starring Fanny Ardant, Jeremy Irons and Joan Plowright; "The Hottie & the Nottie," a romantic comedy starring Paris Hilton, Joel David Moore and Christine Lakin; And "Kabluey," the award-winning breakout indie favorite starring Lisa Kudrow and Christine Taylor. For more information, please visit www.regentreleasing.com. About Fortissimo Films Fortissimo Films is an international film, television and video sales organization specializing in the production, presentation, promotion and distribution of unique, award winning and innovative feature films from independent film makers from all over the world. For more information, please see www.fortissimofilms.com


	When one thinks of Israel, one naturally thinks Jewish. Did you know that Jews comprise 80% of Israels population. What about the other 20%? The second annual Other Israel Film Festival, dedicated to illuminating the lives of the Arab Citizens of Israel will take place November 6-13, 2008 at The JCC in Manhattan as well as other locations around the city. Through a week-long festival of award-winning films, guest filmmakers, panel discussions, special gala events & receptions, photography exhibits, musical performances and much more, Other Israel Film Festival will show a group of people rarely seen outside the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This festival is unique as it is NOT about the conflict and it is not about taking sides; Other Israel is about people. Through the Festival, Arab Israelis who have long been a part of Israels art and film scene will bring Israeli Arab perspectives and culture to an audience that has rarely heard this voice before. The festival is as diverse as the people who make up the Arab citizens of Israel. From films on fashion design (Lady Kul El Arab) and marriage (Desert Brides) to basketball (The Boys from Lebanon) and discrimination (ID Blues) the films illuminate the diverse culture and beautiful people of Israels largest minority. Carole Zabar founded the Other Israel Film Festival to serve as a platform to inform and garner knowledge about this little known culture. Mrs. Zabar cares deeply about Israel and wants to show that Israels future is dependent on how the country deals with its Arab minority. By showcasing their accomplishments, Zabar wants to break down barriers and begin a dialogue to educate audiences. Now in its second year, Other Israel Film Festival is taking steps to educate and enlighten. The 2nd Annual OTHER ISRAEL FILM FESTIVAL Presented by The NY Israel Film Center at The JCC in Manhattan November 6-13, 2008 Festival will take place at The Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Manhattan, and additional venues throughout the city 1 out of 5 citizens of Israel is Arab. Their stories are inspiring The 2nd Annual Other Israel Film Festival, (www.OtherIsrael.org) dedicated to showcasing the lives of Arab citizens of Israel, will take place in New York City from November 6th 13th. The week-long festival will run at the JCC in Manhattan and other locations around the city. It is presented by The New York Israel Film Center at The JCC in Manhattan. Other Israel Film Festival celebrates the diversity of Israeli life with award-winning films and open discussions by and about the countrys Arab minority populations (Christian, Muslim, Bedouin and Druze) which make up 20% of Israels population. The Festival sheds light on the lives and challenges of the Arab minority in a Jewish defined state. The controversial state of Arabs is extremely relevant to America today. Other Israel Film Festival brings these stories to the big screen and to the American public. We are thrilled to build on the success of last years Festival, celebrating creativity and sparking discussion, said Festival founder Carole Zabar. There is more to Israel than what we read in the headlines and we look forward to having audiences discover new Israeli faces and places. The schedule of films, programs, guests and participants of the Other Israel Film Festival will be announced later this summer and tickets for the festival go on sale in October 6th online atwww.otherisrael.org or by phone 646-505-5708. The festival will feature several special directors' presentations and international sneak previews. Among them: New episodes from Arab television show "Arab Labor" After its successful world premiere at Other Israel Film Festival last year, ARAB LABOR is back in the festival with new episodes. Israel, 2007 TV Fiction, 9 episodes at 30 min. Each Director: Roni Ninio Synopsis: Arab labor deals with the Arab status In Israeli society, the controversy surrounding issues of identity and the sensitivities of both populations. The series explores the daily conflicts that Arabs face between the desire to integrate and their own values and traditions. Amjad is a 35-year-old Arab journalist, married to Bushara (a social worker) and father to Maya. In order to become the darling of the In-crowd, Amjad is willing to lie, flatter and conceal all of his Arab traits. Meanwhile, he vehemently represents the suffering of Arabs at any given forum. This excessive Israelization is a source of conflict between Amjad and his conservative parents. His wife mocks his ways and deeds, but shows restraint in order to preserve domestic peace. Amjad`s only ally is his friend Meir (an Israeli Jew) - a photographer who works with him at the newspaper, a sworn bachelor who falls In love with Amal, Bushara`s feminist Arab friend. The Boys from Lebanon Israel, 2008 Documentary, 52 minutes Director: Ohad Ufaz Synopsis: In May 2000, the South Lebanese Army (SLA) collapsed and its members fled from Hezbollah fighters into Israel, their ally who had abandoned them. 700 families of SLA refugees are living in Israel today. Pierre and Massoud are two sons of an SLA officer who brought his family to Israel when the two were boys. Pierre aspires to dedicate himself to the Lebanese music he loves, but he is forced to support his family instead. Massoud brings together a group of friends, all sons of former SLA fighters,and starts a basketball team called Erez Naharia ("Cedars of Naharia"). This is the story of young Lebanese men struggling to build their lives and realize their dreams on the ruins of war in Lebanon and exile in Israel. Festivals: Docaviv 2008 - Ofifcial competition Desert Brides Israel, 2008 Documentary, 90 minutes Director: Ada Ushpiz Synopsis: Miriam El Kwader, a Bedouin wedding photographer and mother of seven, living in an unknown and neglected Negev village, reveals through her camera lens, the world of Bedouin weddings; The most distressing issue revealed is polygamy. This is the story of three, relatively educated and independent women, trying to survive, each in their own way in their world - a life of polygamy. One is a "first wife", living in constant fear that her husband will bring home a second wife. The other two are pushed into marrying already married men, and become "second wives", forced to cooperate within a structure they despise or are afraid of. The family tragedies presented in this film, highlight the strength and survival of the social structures and their injustices; Leaning usually on the victims`` partial cooperation.Awards and Festivals: First Prize - Docaviv 2008 (Israel) Lady Kul El Arab Israel, 2008 Documentary, 56 minutes Written & Directed by: Ibtisam Mara'ana Language: Arabic & Hebrew with English subtitles Synopsis: Angelina, the first Druze woman to attempt significant steps in the Israeli fashion world, finds herself in the middle of a complicated conflict in which the tradition and values of her society clash with her brave efforts to choose her own way in life. Duah Fares, a young woman from the Druze village of Sagur in the Galilee, was one of the 12 finalists in the beauty pageant for Israeli-Arab women - 'Lady Kul el-Arab.' While preparing for the pageant,a special relationship develops between Duah and fashion designer Jack Yaakob. Together they go to Tel Aviv to register Duah for the general Israeli beauty contest as well. Duah breezes through the preliminary selections for the contest and changes her name to Angelina. Lady Kul el-Arab which set out as a glamorous film about a beauty pageant, turned into a moving story of a family caught between cultures. In her fifth film, director Ibtisam Mara'ana succeeds in delicately drawing the dramatic and touching portrait of a young woman who finds herself at the heart of a struggle which fascinates the whole country. Carole Zabar (Founder) Mrs. Zabar has been an active supporter of Israeli documentary filmmaking over the last decade and has recently founded the Other Israel Film Festival. As part of her support for Israeli cultural, social and political causes, Mrs. Zabar serves as board member of The JCC in Manhattan, New Israel Fund, and the American Friends of Meretz. Isaac Zablocki (Executive Director) Grew up in Israel and served in the IDF as an educational filmmaker. Recently completed his first feature film, "Reality Lost", and is the director of film and literary programs at The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. Ravit Turjeman (Festival Director) Founder and Managing Director of Dragoman Films, a NYC-based boutique distribution company, specializing in marketing of Israeli Cinema in North America. Ravit also serves as director and programmer of numerous film festivals in the Tri-State area. The schedule of films, programs, guests and participants of the Other Israel Film Festival are scheduled to be announced later this summer and tickets for the festival go on sale in October 6th online at www.otherisrael.org or by phone 646-505-5708 Some of the successes of the first annual Other Israel Film Festival were "Sling Shot Hip-Hop" by Jackie Salloum, which was presented as work in progress during the festival and later was an official selection of Sundance; "Roads' by Lior Geller which later won best short fiction film at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival; And "No Longer Achmed" by David Deri was just recently acquired by Al Jazeera (one of very few ever Israeli films to be acquired by Al Jazeera and broadcasted in the Arab world). The television show Arab Labor was first screened at the festival before being broadcasted on Israeli television. The show became an unprecedented hit, breaking therules of an Israeli prime time commercial program.


	Quote: : THE 18th NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL Presented by The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center Jan. 14-29, 2009 NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2008The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center will present the 18th annual New York Jewish Film Festival at The Film Societys Walter Reade Theater, The Jewish Museum, and two other New York venues, Jan. 14-29, 2009. The festivals 32 features and shorts from 17 countries28 screening in their world, U.S., or New York premierespresent a diverse global perspective on the Jewish experience. The 2009 edition of this celebrated annual festival includes new works by Academy Award-winner Moshe Mizrahi, visual artists Gay Block and Susan Mogul, actors Susan Sarandon, Christopher Plummer, Max von Sydow, Gabriel Byrne, and Emmanuelle Devos, and many others. It also honors Yiddish theater and film actor Solomon Mikhoels in a special sidebar tribute. The festival opens on Wednesday, Jan. 14, with At Home in Utopia, director Michal Goldmans moving documentary examination of the United Workers Cooperative Colony, a prominent 20s-era, Bronx-based housing collective whose residents often had Communist leanings. It joins the Closing Night film, Waiting for Armageddona world premiere documentary investigating the political influence of radical Evangelicals who believe that Israel and the Jewish people are leading the world toward apocalypse among the powerful new political and historical documentaries that distinguish the festival. Festival documentary screenings will include the U.S. Premiere of A Road to Mecca: The Journey of Muhammad Asad, Georg Mischs insightful biography of Austro-Hungarian Leopold Weiss, who, as Muhammad Asad, became a leading Islam scholar, one of Pakistans founding fathers, and an early Pakistani ambassador to the U.N. Lukás Pribyls meticulously researched Forgotten Transports: To Estonia follows several Czech woman who banded together to survive a series of concentration camps. In Our Disappeared, filmmaker Juan Mandelbaum returns to his native Argentina to uncover the whereabouts of several friends who were kidnapped, tortured or murdered during the countrys military dictatorship. German conceptual artist Gunter Demnigs Stolpersteine sculptures, commemorating the last-known residences of Jews and other victims of the Nazis, are debated in Dörte Frankes Stumbling Stone, screening with Jacob Dammass humorous short Kredens, a wild goose chase for a family heirloom. The pressing concerns of Israel and the Middle East are examined in a documentary double bill featuring Facing the Wind, about an Israeli teenage bombing victims struggle for a normal life, and My Fathers Palestinian Slave, in which filmmaker Nathanel Goldman befriends his Israeli fathers Palestinian groundskeeper. The theme is continued in two films screening in their U.S. Premieres: Nir Toibs Every Mother Should Know, offering several Israeli reservists reflections on the failures of the second Lebanon War, and Pe Homquist and Suzanne Khardalians Young Freud in Gaza, the compelling story of northern Gazas only field psychologist. Jewish identity around the globe is an essential topic in this years New York Jewish Film Festival, captured in Being Jewish in France, In Search of the Bene Israel and The Fire Within: Jews in the Amazonian Rainforest. Three other documentaries, Mr. Radowski, A Refuseniks Mother and Yideshe Mama, explore troubled interpersonal relationships between parents and children. One of Apartheid South Africas most cutting and courageous satirists is spotlighted in Australian filmmaker Julian Shaws Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story, which screens with Ella Altermans dramatic portrait of inter-faith compassion in the midst of war, The Woman from Sarajevo. Additionally, the world premiere of acclaimed visual artist Gay Blocks film Camp Girls, reuniting her with the girls featured in a series of photographs she took in 1981, is paired with Driving Men, artist Susan Moguls road trip face-to-face with the men who have influenced her life. Susan Sarandon, Christopher Plummer Max von Sydow and Gabriel Byrne star in the first of The New York Jewish Film Festivals distinguished fictional features: Paolo Barzmans Emotional Arithmetic, about the tempestuous reunion on three World War II prisoners. Karin Albous The Wedding Song and Rustem Abdrashevs The Gift to Stalin also offer 40s narratives, while Two Lives Plus One stars Desplechin-favorite Emmanuelle Devos as a Parisian schoolteacher whose desire to become an author leads her to imagine conversations with her deceased father. Daniel Burmans Empty Nest, about an Argentine couple in midlife crisis, will receive its U.S. Premiere. Moshe Mizrahi, an Academy Award-winner and a pioneer of modern Israeli cinema, offers his newest drama Weekend in Galilee, an intimate ensemble interpretation of Chekhovs Uncle Vanya. German television director Anna Justice presents her second feature film, Max Minsky and Me, a charming, family friendly adaptation of Holly-Jane Rahlenss best-selling novel about a bookish bat mitzvah candidate who agrees to do a jocks homework in exchange for basketball lessons. Finally, shtetl sensibility meets European sophistication in the New York premiere of a specially restored print of the 1937 musical comedy, The Jester. The festivals 2009 sidebar, A Tribute to Solomon Mikhoels, is presented in conjunction with The Jewish Museums current exhibition, Chagall and the Artists of the Russian Jewish Theater, 1919-1949. It honors the actor and longtime artistic director of GOSET (Moscow State Yiddish Theater)who also was a victim of Stalins post-World War II anti-Semitic purgesthrough two films, the silent classic Jewish Luck and a restored print of the only Russian-Yiddish talkie from Soviet Russia, The Return of Nathan Becker. The majority of The New York Jewish Film Festivals screenings will be held at The Film Society of Lincoln Centers Walter Reade Theater, located at 165 West 65th St. Between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway. Four additional screenings will be held at The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. At 92nd Street; The JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. At West 76th Street; And 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson St. At Canal. Single screening tickets for The New York Jewish Film Festival are $11; $7 for Film Society and Jewish Museum members, students and children (6-12, accompanied by an adult); And $8 for seniors (62+). No Walter Reade Theater series pass is available for this series. Tickets for screenings at the Walter Reade Theater and The Jewish Museum are available at the Walter Reade Theater box office and online at filmlinc.com. Tickets for screenings at The Jewish Museum, The JCC in Manhattan and 92Y Tribeca are also available at those venues. For complete information, visit www.filmlinc.com, www.thejewishmuseum.org, or call (212) 875-5601. Please note: Due to construction work taking place around Lincoln Center, access to the Walter Reade Theater is near Amsterdam Avenue. Once there, take the escalator, elevator or stairs to the upper level. THE 18th NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL Jan. 14-29, 2009 Schedule at a Glance Wednesday, Jan. 14 1:30 - At Home in Utopia, with Yosl Cutler and His Puppets 3:30 - Emotional Arithmetic 6:15 - At Home in Utopia, with Yosl Cutler and His Puppets 8:30 - Two Lives Plus One Thursday, Jan. 15 1:00 - Emotional Arithmetic 3:15 - Facing the Wind, with My Fathers Palestinian Slave 6:00 - Emotional Arithmetic 8:15 - Facing the Wind, with My Fathers Palestinian Slave Saturday, Jan. 17 6:30 - Two Lives Plus One 9:00 - Weekend in Galilee Sunday, Jan. 18 1:00 - Jewish Luck 3:30 - Max Minsky and Me 6:00 - Our Disappeared 8:30 - Two Lives Plus One Monday, Jan. 19 1:00 - The Jester 3:20 - Forgotten Transports: To Estonia 6:00 - Max Minsky and Me 8:30 - A Refuseniks Mother, with Yideshe Mama Tuesday, Jan. 20 1:30 - Empty Nest 3:45 - A Road to Mecca 6:00 - Empty Nest 8:30 - Our Disappeared Wednesday, Jan. 21 1:30 - Forgotten Transports: To Estonia 3:45 - Our Disappeared 6:15 - A Road to Mecca 8:30 - Empty Nest Thursday, Jan. 22 1:30 - Young Freud in Gaza 3:45 - The Wedding Song 6:00 - Young Freud in Gaza 8:30 - The Wedding Song Saturday, Jan. 24 6:30 - Camp Girls, with Driving Men 9:15 - The Gift to Stalin Sunday, Jan. 25 5:15 - The Return of Nathan Becker 7:15 - Being Jewish in France Monday, Jan. 26 1:15 - The Gift to Stalin 3:30 - Camp Girls, with Driving Men 6:15 - The Gift to Stalin 8:30 - Every Mother Should Know Tuesday, Jan. 27 1:00 - Every Mother Should Know 4:00 - Mr. Rakowski Wednesday, Jan. 28 2:00 - Waiting for Armageddon 4:15 - Kredens, with Stumbling Stone 6:15 - Mr. Rakowski 8:30 - Kredens, with Stumbling Stone Thursday, Jan. 29 1:00 - Darling!, with The Woman from Sarajevo 3:30 - In Search of the Bene Israel, with The Fire Within 6:00 - Darling!, with The Woman from Sarajevo 8:30 Waiting for Armageddon At The Film Society of Lincoln Center Walter Reade Theater 165 West 65th Street close to Amsterdam Avenue (212) 875-5601 www.filmlinc.com --- At The JCC in Manhattan 334 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street (646) 505-5708 www.jccmanhattan.org Tuesday, Jan. 20 7:30 - A Refuseniks Mother, with Yideshe Mama --- At 92YTribeca 200 Hudson Street at Canal (212) 415-5500 www.92ytribeca.org/film Saturday, Jan. 24 9:00 - The Wedding Song --- At The Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street www.thejewishmuseum.org (Tickets also available through The Film Society of Lincoln Center) Tuesday, Jan. 27 3:00 In Search of the Bene Israel, with The Fire Within 6:30 In Search of the Bene Israel, with The Fire Within --- All times p.m. --- The Jewish Museum was established in 1904, when Judge Mayer Sulzberger donated 26 ceremonial art objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary of America as the core of a museum collection. Today, the Museum maintains an important collection of 26,000 objectspaintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, archaeological artifacts, ceremonial objects, and broadcast media. Widely admired for its exhibitions and educational programs that inspire people of all backgrounds, The Jewish Museum is the preeminent United States institution exploring the intersection of 4,000 years of art and Jewish culture. This years New York Jewish Film Festival was selected by Rachel Chanoff, Independent Curator; Andrew Ingall, Assistant Curator, The Jewish Museum; Richard Peña, Program Director, The Film Society of Lincoln Center; Aviva Weintraub, Associate Curator and Director of The New York Jewish Film Festival, The Jewish Museum The New York Jewish Film Festival is sponsored, in part, by The Martin and Doris Payson Charitable Foundation. Generous funding was also provided by The Liman Foundation, The Jack and Pearl Resnick Foundation, Mimi and Barry Alperin, and other donors. Additional support has been provided through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; The New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; And the National Endowment for the Arts. The Israel Office of Cultural Affairs in the USA, the French Embassy, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, Czech Airlines, the Swedish Film Institute, and others provided travel assistance. Time Warner Cable is the media sponsor of The New York Jewish Film Festival. The Film Society of Lincoln Center was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Advancing this mandate today, The Film Society hosts two distinguished festivalsThe New York Film Festival and New Directors/New Filmsas well as the annual Gala Tribute, celebrating an actor or filmmaker who has helped distinguish cinema as an art form, and a year-round calendar of programming at its Walter Reade Theater. It also offers definitive examinations of essential films and artists to a worldwide audience through Film Comment magazine. Jewish movies have NEVER has any worth, you post this crap all day, to no good use-give it up.


	Quote: : Jewish movies have NEVER has any worth The amazing Sa0sin I. (pictured) has spoken ... Emo-stupidity seems to be your forte, Sa0sin I. Counter-culture attitudes are for the mentally ill or pretenders, you're definitely a pretender. You wouldn't know a good movie if it popped of the projector and hit you in your flat, emo-challenged head. Here's a movie Quote: for you (you guess where it comes from you get an emo prize) ... "Ever meet someone you absolutely should never have Fcuked with. Guess what, you just met him." (you may now return to your regularly scheduled programming)


	THE 18th NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL Presented by The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center Jan. 14-29, 2009 NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2008The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center will present the 18th annual New York Jewish Film Festival at The Film Societys Walter Reade Theater, The Jewish Museum, and two other New York venues, Jan. 14-29, 2009. The festivals 32 features and shorts from 17 countries28 screening in their world, U.S., or New York premierespresent a diverse global perspective on the Jewish experience. The 2009 edition of this celebrated annual festival includes new works by Academy Award-winner Moshe Mizrahi, visual artists Gay Block and Susan Mogul, actors Susan Sarandon, Christopher Plummer, Max von Sydow, Gabriel Byrne, and Emmanuelle Devos, and many others. It also honors Yiddish theater and film actor Solomon Mikhoels in a special sidebar tribute. The festival opens on Wednesday, Jan. 14, with At Home in Utopia, director Michal Goldmans moving documentary examination of the United Workers Cooperative Colony, a prominent 20s-era, Bronx-based housing collective whose residents often had Communist leanings. It joins the Closing Night film, Waiting for Armageddona world premiere documentary investigating the political influence of radical Evangelicals who believe that Israel and the Jewish people are leading the world toward apocalypse among the powerful new political and historical documentaries that distinguish the festival. Festival documentary screenings will include the U.S. Premiere of A Road to Mecca: The Journey of Muhammad Asad, Georg Mischs insightful biography of Austro-Hungarian Leopold Weiss, who, as Muhammad Asad, became a leading Islam scholar, one of Pakistans founding fathers, and an early Pakistani ambassador to the U.N. Lukás Pribyls meticulously researched Forgotten Transports: To Estonia follows several Czech woman who banded together to survive a series of concentration camps. In Our Disappeared, filmmaker Juan Mandelbaum returns to his native Argentina to uncover the whereabouts of several friends who were kidnapped, tortured or murdered during the countrys military dictatorship. German conceptual artist Gunter Demnigs Stolpersteine sculptures, commemorating the last-known residences of Jews and other victims of the Nazis, are debated in Dörte Frankes Stumbling Stone, screening with Jacob Dammass humorous short Kredens, a wild goose chase for a family heirloom. The pressing concerns of Israel and the Middle East are examined in a documentary double bill featuring Facing the Wind, about an Israeli teenage bombing victims struggle for a normal life, and My Fathers Palestinian Slave, in which filmmaker Nathanel Goldman befriends his Israeli fathers Palestinian groundskeeper. The theme is continued in two films screening in their U.S. Premieres: Nir Toibs Every Mother Should Know, offering several Israeli reservists reflections on the failures of the second Lebanon War, and Pe Homquist and Suzanne Khardalians Young Freud in Gaza, the compelling story of northern Gazas only field psychologist. Jewish identity around the globe is an essential topic in this years New York Jewish Film Festival, captured in Being Jewish in France, In Search of the Bene Israel and The Fire Within: Jews in the Amazonian Rainforest. Three other documentaries, Mr. Radowski, A Refuseniks Mother and Yideshe Mama, explore troubled interpersonal relationships between parents and children. One of Apartheid South Africas most cutting and courageous satirists is spotlighted in Australian filmmaker Julian Shaws Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story, which screens with Ella Altermans dramatic portrait of inter-faith compassion in the midst of war, The Woman from Sarajevo. Additionally, the world premiere of acclaimed visual artist Gay Blocks film Camp Girls, reuniting her with the girls featured in a series of photographs she took in 1981, is paired with Driving Men, artist Susan Moguls road trip face-to-face with the men who have influenced her life. Susan Sarandon, Christopher Plummer Max von Sydow and Gabriel Byrne star in the first of The New York Jewish Film Festivals distinguished fictional features: Paolo Barzmans Emotional Arithmetic, about the tempestuous reunion on three World War II prisoners. Karin Albous The Wedding Song and Rustem Abdrashevs The Gift to Stalin also offer 40s narratives, while Two Lives Plus One stars Desplechin-favorite Emmanuelle Devos as a Parisian schoolteacher whose desire to become an author leads her to imagine conversations with her deceased father. Daniel Burmans Empty Nest, about an Argentine couple in midlife crisis, will receive its U.S. Premiere. Moshe Mizrahi, an Academy Award-winner and a pioneer of modern Israeli cinema, offers his newest drama Weekend in Galilee, an intimate ensemble interpretation of Chekhovs Uncle Vanya. German television director Anna Justice presents her second feature film, Max Minsky and Me, a charming, family friendly adaptation of Holly-Jane Rahlenss best-selling novel about a bookish bat mitzvah candidate who agrees to do a jocks homework in exchange for basketball lessons. Finally, shtetl sensibility meets European sophistication in the New York premiere of a specially restored print of the 1937 musical comedy, The Jester. The festivals 2009 sidebar, A Tribute to Solomon Mikhoels, is presented in conjunction with The Jewish Museums current exhibition, Chagall and the Artists of the Russian Jewish Theater, 1919-1949. It honors the actor and longtime artistic director of GOSET (Moscow State Yiddish Theater)who also was a victim of Stalins post-World War II anti-Semitic purgesthrough two films, the silent classic Jewish Luck and a restored print of the only Russian-Yiddish talkie from Soviet Russia, The Return of Nathan Becker. The majority of The New York Jewish Film Festivals screenings will be held at The Film Society of Lincoln Centers Walter Reade Theater, located at 165 West 65th St. Between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway. Four additional screenings will be held at The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. At 92nd Street; The JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. At West 76th Street; And 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson St. At Canal. Single screening tickets for The New York Jewish Film Festival are $11; $7 for Film Society and Jewish Museum members, students and children (6-12, accompanied by an adult); And $8 for seniors (62+). No Walter Reade Theater series pass is available for this series. Tickets for screenings at the Walter Reade Theater and The Jewish Museum are available at the Walter Reade Theater box office and online at filmlinc.com. Tickets for screenings at The Jewish Museum, The JCC in Manhattan and 92Y Tribeca are also available at those venues. For complete information, visit www.filmlinc.com, www.thejewishmuseum.org, or call (212) 875-5601. Please note: Due to construction work taking place around Lincoln Center, access to the Walter Reade Theater is near Amsterdam Avenue. Once there, take the escalator, elevator or stairs to the upper level. THE 18th NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL Jan. 14-29, 2009 Schedule at a Glance Wednesday, Jan. 14 1:30 - At Home in Utopia, with Yosl Cutler and His Puppets 3:30 - Emotional Arithmetic 6:15 - At Home in Utopia, with Yosl Cutler and His Puppets 8:30 - Two Lives Plus One Thursday, Jan. 15 1:00 - Emotional Arithmetic 3:15 - Facing the Wind, with My Fathers Palestinian Slave 6:00 - Emotional Arithmetic 8:15 - Facing the Wind, with My Fathers Palestinian Slave Saturday, Jan. 17 6:30 - Two Lives Plus One 9:00 - Weekend in Galilee Sunday, Jan. 18 1:00 - Jewish Luck 3:30 - Max Minsky and Me 6:00 - Our Disappeared 8:30 - Two Lives Plus One Monday, Jan. 19 1:00 - The Jester 3:20 - Forgotten Transports: To Estonia 6:00 - Max Minsky and Me 8:30 - A Refuseniks Mother, with Yideshe Mama Tuesday, Jan. 20 1:30 - Empty Nest 3:45 - A Road to Mecca 6:00 - Empty Nest 8:30 - Our Disappeared Wednesday, Jan. 21 1:30 - Forgotten Transports: To Estonia 3:45 - Our Disappeared 6:15 - A Road to Mecca 8:30 - Empty Nest Thursday, Jan. 22 1:30 - Young Freud in Gaza 3:45 - The Wedding Song 6:00 - Young Freud in Gaza 8:30 - The Wedding Song Saturday, Jan. 24 6:30 - Camp Girls, with Driving Men 9:15 - The Gift to Stalin Sunday, Jan. 25 5:15 - The Return of Nathan Becker 7:15 - Being Jewish in France Monday, Jan. 26 1:15 - The Gift to Stalin 3:30 - Camp Girls, with Driving Men 6:15 - The Gift to Stalin 8:30 - Every Mother Should Know Tuesday, Jan. 27 1:00 - Every Mother Should Know 4:00 - Mr. Rakowski Wednesday, Jan. 28 2:00 - Waiting for Armageddon 4:15 - Kredens, with Stumbling Stone 6:15 - Mr. Rakowski 8:30 - Kredens, with Stumbling Stone Thursday, Jan. 29 1:00 - Darling!, with The Woman from Sarajevo 3:30 - In Search of the Bene Israel, with The Fire Within 6:00 - Darling!, with The Woman from Sarajevo 8:30 Waiting for Armageddon At The Film Society of Lincoln Center Walter Reade Theater 165 West 65th Street close to Amsterdam Avenue (212) 875-5601 www.filmlinc.com --- At The JCC in Manhattan 334 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street (646) 505-5708 www.jccmanhattan.org Tuesday, Jan. 20 7:30 - A Refuseniks Mother, with Yideshe Mama --- At 92YTribeca 200 Hudson Street at Canal (212) 415-5500 www.92ytribeca.org/film Saturday, Jan. 24 9:00 - The Wedding Song --- At The Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street www.thejewishmuseum.org (Tickets also available through The Film Society of Lincoln Center) Tuesday, Jan. 27 3:00 In Search of the Bene Israel, with The Fire Within 6:30 In Search of the Bene Israel, with The Fire Within --- All times p.m. --- The Jewish Museum was established in 1904, when Judge Mayer Sulzberger donated 26 ceremonial art objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary of America as the core of a museum collection. Today, the Museum maintains an important collection of 26,000 objectspaintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, archaeological artifacts, ceremonial objects, and broadcast media. Widely admired for its exhibitions and educational programs that inspire people of all backgrounds, The Jewish Museum is the preeminent United States institution exploring the intersection of 4,000 years of art and Jewish culture. This years New York Jewish Film Festival was selected by Rachel Chanoff, Independent Curator; Andrew Ingall, Assistant Curator, The Jewish Museum; Richard Peña, Program Director, The Film Society of Lincoln Center; Aviva Weintraub, Associate Curator and Director of The New York Jewish Film Festival, The Jewish Museum The New York Jewish Film Festival is sponsored, in part, by The Martin and Doris Payson Charitable Foundation. Generous funding was also provided by The Liman Foundation, The Jack and Pearl Resnick Foundation, Mimi and Barry Alperin, and other donors. Additional support has been provided through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; The New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; And the National Endowment for the Arts. The Israel Office of Cultural Affairs in the USA, the French Embassy, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, Czech Airlines, the Swedish Film Institute, and others provided travel assistance. Time Warner Cable is the media sponsor of The New York Jewish Film Festival. The Film Society of Lincoln Center was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Advancing this mandate today, The Film Society hosts two distinguished festivalsThe New York Film Festival and New Directors/New Filmsas well as the annual Gala Tribute, celebrating an actor or filmmaker who has helped distinguish cinema as an art form, and a year-round calendar of programming at its Walter Reade Theater. It also offers definitive examinations of essential films and artists to a worldwide audience through Film Comment magazine.


	The 18th Annual New York Jewish Film Festival January 14 29, 2009 Welcome to the 18th annual New York Jewish Film Festival, a global survey of innovative and provocative filmsmost receiving their New York or U.S. Premieresthat explore the multi-faceted Jewish experience. A total of 32 films from 15 countries add up to an exhilarating worldwide journey. Many screenings are followed by discussions with directors and other special guests. In conjunction with the current Jewish Museum exhibition Chagall and the Artists of the Russian Jewish Theater, 1919-1949, The New York Jewish Film Festival presents two films starring Solomon Mikhoels (1890-1948), actor, artistic director of GOSET (Moscow State Yiddish Theater), and a victim of Stalins post-World War II anti-Semitic purges. Films will screen in their original language with English subtitles; Please note that films in English will not have subtitles. For an alphabetical listing of the films go to Program Overview. Click on Calendar to view the daily schedule, and to purchase tickets online for the screenings at the Walter Reade Theater and The Jewish Museum. Presented by The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center The 18th Annual New York Jewish Film Festival January 14 - 29, 2009 Films will screen in their original language with English subtitles; Please note that films in English will not have subtitles. Many screenings are followed by discussions with directors and other special guests. Visit The Jewish Museum's website for additional information about the films in the Festival and the filmmakers attending the Festival. Click on the pictures for film descriptions. Purchase tickets online by clicking on the SHOWTIME under Buy Tickets. TODAY'S SCHEDULE Admission: $11 public $8 seniors (62+) $7 Film Society & Jewish Museum members, students (with ID) and children (6-12, accompanied by an adult) Online service charge: $1.25 per ticket ordered. Cash only transactions at the box office. No series pass. A Refuseniks Mother Ima Shel Shimri / Dir. By Ori Ben Dov, Israel, 2008; 50m U.S. Premiere screening with Yideshe Mama Dir. By Fima Shlick and Gennady Kuchuk, Israel, 2008; 63m U.S. Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Mon Jan 19: 8:30 A Road to Mecca: The Journey of Muhammad Asad Der Weg nach Mekka - Die Reise des Muhammad Asad / Dir. By Georg Misch, Austria, 2008; 92m U.S. Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Tue Jan 20: 3:45 Wed Jan 21: 6:15 At Home in Utopia Dir. By Michal Goldman, USA, 2008; 57m NY Premiere screening with Yosl Cutler and His Puppets Yosl Kotler un Zayne Marioneten / Dir. By Joseph Burstyn, USA, 1935; 18m Read more... Buy Tickets Wed Jan 14: 1:30 & 6:15 Being Jewish in France Comme un Juif en France / Dir. By Yves Jeuland, France, 2007; 185m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Sun Jan 25: 7:15 Camp Girls Dir. By Gay Block, USA, 2008; 48m World Premiere screening with Driving Men Dir. By Susan Mogul, USA, 2008; 67m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Sat Jan 24: 6:30 Mon Jan 26: 3:30 Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story Dir. By Julian Shaw, Australia, 2006; 52m NY Premiere screening with The Woman from Sarajevo Dir. By Ella Alterman, Israel, 2007; 56m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Thu Jan 29: 1 & 6 Emotional Arithmetic Dir. By Paolo Barzman, Canada, 2007; 95m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Wed Jan 14: 3:30 Thu Jan 15: 1 & 6 Empty Nest El nido vacío / Dir. By Daniel Burman, Argentina/Spain/France/Italy, 2008; 91m U.S. Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Tue Jan 20: 1:30 & 6 Wed Jan 21: 8:30 Every Mother Should Know Teda Kol Em Ivriya / Dir. By Nir Toib, Israel, 2008; 120m U.S. Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Mon Jan 26: 8:30 Tue Jan 27: 1 Facing the Wind Margish Et Haruach / Dir. By Gilad Reshef, Israel, 2006; 50m NY Premiere screening with My Fathers Palestinian Slave Min Pappas Palestinska Slav / Dir. By Uri Appenzeller and Nathanel Goldman Amirav, Sweden, 2007; 52m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Thu Jan 15: 3:15 & 8:15 Forgotten Transports: To Estonia Zapomenuté transporty: Do Estonska / Dir. By Lukás Pribyl, Czech Republic, 2008; 85m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Mon Jan 19: 3:20 Wed Jan 21: 1:30 In Search of the Bene Israel Dir. By Sadia Shepard, USA, 2008; 38m NY Premiere screening with The Fire Within: Jews in the Amazonian Rainforest Dir. By Lorry Salcedo Mitrani, Peru/USA, 2008; 60m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Tue Jan 27: 3 & 6:30* Thu Jan 29: 3:30 *Screenings at THE JEWISH MUSEUM Scroll DOWN for more titles


	New York Jewish Film Festival January 14 29, 2009 Jewish Luck Yevreiskoye Schastye / Menakhem Mendl / Dir. By Alexander Granovsky, USSR, 1925; 100m Silent with live piano. Read more... Buy Tickets Sun Jan 18: 1 Kredens Dir. By Jacob Dammas, Poland/Denmark, 2007; 26m NY Premiere screening with Stumbling Stone Stolperstein / Dir. By Dörte Franke, Germany, 2007; 75m U.S. Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Wed Jan 28: 4:15 & 8:30 Max Minsky and Me Max Minsky und ich / Dir. By Anna Justice, Germany, 2007; 95m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Sun Jan 18: 3:30 Mon Jan 19: 6 Mr. Rakowski Dir. by Jan Diederen, Netherlands, 2007; 77m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Tue Jan 27: 4 Wed Jan 28: 6:15 Our Disappeared Nuestros desaparecidos / Dir. By Juan Mandelbaum, USA, 2008; 99m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Sun Jan 18: 6 Tue Jan 20: 8:30 Wed Jan 21: 3:45 The Gift to Stalin Podarok Stalinu / Dir. By Rustem Abdrashev, Poland/Israel/Russia/Kazakhstan, 2008; 99m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Sat Jan 24: 9:15 Mon Jan 26: 1:15 & 6:15 The Jester Der Purimshpiler / Dir. By Joseph Green & Jan Nowina-Przybylski, Poland, 1937; 90m NY Premiere of the restored print. Read more... Buy Tickets Mon Jan 19: 1 The Return of Nathan Becker Nosn Becker Fort Aheym / Dir. By Boris Shpis & Rokhl M. Milman, USSR, 1932; 72m Read more... Buy Tickets Sun Jan 25: 5:15 The Wedding Song Le chant des mariées / Dir. By Karin Albou, France, 2008; 84m U.S. Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Thu Jan 22: 3:45 & 8:30 Two Lives Plus One Deux vies... Plus une / Dir. by Idit Cebula, France, 2007; 86m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Wed Jan 14: 8:30 Sat Jan 17: 6:30 Waiting for Armageddon Dir. By Kate Davis, David Heilbroner & Franco Sacchi, USA, 2008; 74m World Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Wed Jan 28: 2 Thu Jan 29: 8:30 Weekend in Galilee Sof Shavua Bagalil / Dir. By Moshe Mizrahi, Israel, 2007; 100m NY Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Sat Jan 17: 9 Young Freud in Gaza Unge Freud i Gaza / Dir. By PeÅ Holmquist & Suzanne Khardalian, Sweden, 2008; 90m U.S. Premiere Read more... Buy Tickets Thu Jan 22: 1:30 & 6 Click on the pictures for film descriptions. Purchase tickets online by clicking on the SHOWTIME under Buy Tickets. TODAY'S SCHEDULE Admission: $11 public $8 seniors (62+) $7 Film Society & Jewish Museum members, students (with ID) and children (6-12, accompanied by an adult) Online service charge: $1.25 per ticket ordered. Cash only transactions at the box office. No series pass.

Discussion Title: Israeli and Jewish films in the USA ... the Chosen cinema?
Title Keywords: Forums Israeli Jewish films Chosen cinema?

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