The Second Annual Brooklyn Israel Film Festival at Kane Street Synagogue
Following the enormous success of last year’s inaugural festival, Kane Street Synagogue will host the second annual Brooklyn Israel Film Festival Thursday, January 26 - Sunday, January 29, 2006.
The festival presents three days of thought-provoking and award-winning Israeli films, plus discussions with Israeli film experts, at the Kane Street Synagogue in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
This year’s festival opens with a special 50th anniversary screening of the classic movie about the 1948 Israel War for Independence, Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer, on Thursday, January 26. Also featured are the engrossing and thoughtful contemporary thriller Walk on Water by Eytan Fox, acclaimed director of Yossi and Jagger, on Saturday, January 28; and the Emmy-winning documentary Promises on Sunday, January 29. Both Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer and Promises will be followed by post-film discussions, respectively, with Ken Sutak, a Cinema Judaica expert and Reuben Namdar, an award-winning Israeli writer.
Sunday, January 29th
4:00 PM
Lecture and Poster Presentation:
"Jewish Heroes and Heroines in
Israel War of Independence Films"
With Ken Sutak, Cinema Judaica Expert
SPECIAL TREAT:
Ticket purchased for
5:OO PM
'HILL 24 DOESN'T ANSWER'
will admit ticketholder to
7:00 PM
'PROMISES'
Lecture and discussion following screening:
"HOW ANIMOSITY IS HANDLED IN ISRAELI FILM AND LITERATURE'
HILL 24 DOESN’T ANSWER
Thursday, January 26th
8:00PM
50th anniversary screening of this classic movie about the 1948 Israel War of Independence. Four young Zionists are assigned to defend strategic Hill 24 outside Jerusalem, in order to maintain access to the besieged city. Their diverse personal stories provide a critical perspective on the birth of Israel and those who risked their lives to insure its survival. With Edward Mulhare, Haya Hararit, Michael Shillo and Michael Wager.
Directed by Thorold Dickinson. 101 min. B&W, 1955. English language.
Post-film discussion, “”Hill 24’s Significance, Then and Now” with Cinema Judaica expert Ken Sutak, noted entertainment attorney, author and lecturer.
WALK ON WATER
Saturday, January 28th
8:00PM
This precursor to Spielberg’s Munich takes us into the world of the Mossad. Eyal, a hit man, is tracking an elusive Nazi war criminal through the man’s grandchildren, Axel and Pia. But as Eyal, posing as a tour guide, spends time with them in Israel and Berlin, he finds his prejudices and preconceptions challenged. A colorful, contemporary road movie and thriller, WALK ON WATER explores the role of the past in the lives of young Israelis and Germans.
Directed by Eytan Fox, who previously directed Tribeca Film Festival hit Yossi and Jagger, this film won three Israeli Academy Awards. 103 mins., 2004, English subtitles. Rated R for some language, including sexual references, and for brief nudity.
(view trailer)
PROMISES
Sunday, January 29th
7:00PM
A groundbreaking documentary by Justine Shapiro, B.Z. Goldberg and Carlos Bolado, PROMISES travels to a Palestinian refugee camp, an Israeli West Bank settlement, and more familiar neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Focusing on seven Palestinian and Israeli children who live only 20 minutes apart but exist in completely separate worlds, PROMISES explores the physical, historical and emotional boundaries that separate them and tells the story of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors.
Directed by
Carlos Bolado
B.Z. Goldberg
Justine Shapiro
2002 Emmy Award winner, Best Documentary; 2002 Academy Award Nominee, Best Feature Documentary. 106 minutes. Arabic, Hebrew and English dialogue with English subtitles.
Post-film discussion: “How Animosity is Handled in Israeli Film and Literature” with Reuben Namdar, Israeli award-winning writer who lives, writes and teaches in NYC.
Reuben Namdar was born and raised in Jerusalem. He completed his BA (Sociology, Philosophy and Iranian Studies) and his MA (Anthropology) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His first book, Haviv, (a collection of short stories), was published in 2000 and won the Ministry of Culture's award for Best First Publication and the Jerusalem Fiction award. Reuben has also published book reviews and translations of medieval Persian poetry. He is currently living in New York City, working on a novel and teaching Hebrew language and literature. He is also on the core faculty of the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning, lecturing on Jewish film and literature.
Special Lecture and Movie Poster Exhibit.
Sunday, January 29th
4:00PM
The festival will also feature a special lecture (free and open to the public) and poster exhibit on Sunday, January 29 on “Jewish Heroes and Heroines in Israel War of Independence Films,” with Ken Sutak, a Cinema Judaica expert. Mr. Sutak owns the largest private collection of post-WWII posters from Jewish-themed movies. Rare items from this collection have been donated to the Spielberg Jewish film archive at Hebrew University, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, and the National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University.
Tickets are $25 in advance for the entire series of three films, or $10 per film at the door. The lecture is free. To purchase advance tickets, contact the Kane Street Synagogue office at office@kanestreet.org or 718-875-1550 by January 24.
The Kane Street Synagogue is located at 236 Kane Street between Court and Clinton Streets in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn. Subway directions: F to Bergen St. Station or 2, 3, 4, 5, N or R to Borough Hall Station.
2004
Kane Street's 2004 Israel Film Festival featured three days of contemporary, thought-provoking and award-winning Israeli films, plus discussion. Tickets $10. (Press Release)
Film Schedule:
Opening Night!
Hitchhikers ("Trempistim")
Thursday, Dec. 16
7:15 PM -- Special inaugural reception with wine and Israeli food
8:00 PM -- Showtime
9:00 PM -- Discussion moderated by Zipi Trope, filmmaker of Israeli
documentaries and award-winning feature films. Ms. Trope teaches film at
NYU and Columbia University.
Director: Asher Tlalim
Israel, 1998, Hebew with English subtitles, 50 min.
Where in Israel can you find a middle-aged toy dealer, a right-wing soldier, a hip 20 year-old woman, and a gay Israeli Arab unleash a no-holds-bar spewing of the real Israeli psyche of today? Try a 1985 Volvo station wagon! For a ride thousands take every day from Haifa to Tel Aviv, strap in for a fifty-minute commute into broken stereotypes and political humor. Moroccan-Israeli director Asher Tlalim and Writer Dudu Topaz (Israeli talk-show host) take us on one drive that ends in the Israeli Twilight Zone.
Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi (“Cochavim Shel Shlomi”)
Saturday, Dec. 18
8:00 PM
Director: Shemi Zarchin
Israel, 2003, Hebrew with English Subtitles, 94 min.
This widely-acclaimed, touching film explores the daily challenges faced by Shlomi, an Israeli teenager from a family of Middle Eastern origin, whose self-appointed role is to keep peace within his dysfunctional family and to take care of everyone’s needs but his own. Things change, however, when his brilliance is discovered, and Shlomi finally begins to discover himself.
Broken Wings (“Knafayim Shvurot”)
Sunday, Dec. 19
7:00 PM
Director: Nir Bergman
Israel, 2002, Hebrew with English subtitles, 87 min.
An uplifting and optimistic tale, “Broken Wings” portrays a family which, despite a series of crises, manages to come back from the brink of disaster. The unexpected death of the family patriarch in a tragically absurd accident throws every member of the Ullmann clan off course. But an unexpected incident begins to pull them in the same direction, giving them a vestige of hope and a chance to heal. Hailed by critics as “one of the most beautiful and moving films produced in Israel,” the film won nine awards at the Israeli Academy Awards 2002, Best Feature Film and Best Script at the Jerusalem International Film Festival 2002, and Grand Prix for Best Film at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2002, among others.
