jewishfilm.2006
From Plaza de Mayo to Zion Square
April 22- 30th 2006
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Overview/Thanks | Films
| Tickets | Venues
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Pictures
| Festival
Selection |
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see calendar for dates, times, venues and special screening information. |
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Next
Year in…Argentina In this new documentary filmmaker Gurvich and journalist Slutzky, who met in Buenos Aires in the 1970’s before both men immigrated to Israel, talk with several of their friends over a period of six years to examine their decisions to remain in Argentina or emigrate to Israel. The Argentinean Jews struggle with economic and emotional issues which are often very painful. The film reveals the difficulties common to many immigrants, including the filmmakers themselves, especially those Jews in the diaspora who struggle to find a safe and sustaining place for themselves and their families. |
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So
We Said Goodbye In this short fictional film, a family moving to Spain bids goodbye to their elderly parents. The farewell evokes strong memories for the grandfather as he remembers when, as a boy, he was sent away by his mother on the eve of the Holocaust. "This beautiful short film by the outstanding Israeli photographer Jorge Gurvich moved me to tears. Do not miss it!" - Nacham Ingbar, Yediot Aharonot Best
Short Film |
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Stalin's
Last Purge
Israel, 2005, 55 minutes English Director: Alan Rosenthal An investigation into the details of Stalin’s increasing paranoia and the murderous plots of his final years, this film is also the first to examine Stalin’s actions from the point of view of Jewish cultural figures all of whom had enthusiastically supported the Soviet war effort only to be purged in the immediate post-war period. Much of the material used in this new documentary has only recently become available after the opening of formerly closed Stalin-era archives. |
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You're
in the Army Now Yerukot Israel, 2003, 90 minutes Hebrew with English subtitles Created and Directed by Zippi Brand Frank This fast paced popular television series about women recruits captures this formative experience for most Israeli women with poignancy and humor. The seriousness of the army's mission is always present, even when the trainees are too immersed in their fears, foibles, and friendships to understand the larger picture. |
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Rosehill Rosenhuegel Hungary/Germany, 2004, 94 minutes Hungarian with English subtitles Director: Mari Cantu Cast: Péter Andorai, Erika Marozsán In Cantu’s loosely autobiographical feature film two children, ages ten and six, witness the unfolding of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution from the seclusion of their family’s idyllic Budapest villa. One day a letter arrives from Israel for their Jewish father, a high-ranking official in the Rákosi regime, and the children, vaguely suspecting trouble, conceal it, putting their father in a complicated and ultimately dangerous position. |
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Sentenced
to Marriage Mekudeshet Israel, 2004, 65 minutes Hebrew with English subtitles Director: Anat Zuria In Israel, where divorce is adjudicated according to archaic orthodox Jewish law, thousands of Jewish women live in limbo while they wait for the Rabbinic court to grant them a “get,” a Jewish divorce. Zuria’s documentary, which follows two women caught in this demoralizing legal labyrinth, exposes the Kafkaesque process of divorce for women in Israel. Best
Documentary |
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From
Philadelphia to the Front USA, 2005, 37 minutes Directors: Judy Gelles and Marianne Bernstein This new documentary features six Jewish Philadelphians from the Greatest Generation discussing their experiences in the US Armed Forces during World War II. “From Philadelphia to the Front is a real rarity, a film that one leaves wishing it were at least an hour longer. But it's near perfect as it is.” -- George Robinson, The Jewish Week Best
Documentary, Second Place |
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The
Holocaust Tourist: Whatever Happened to Never Again? UK, 2005, 10 minutes Director: Jes Benstock A wry documentary about how Holocaust tourism distorts history. A whistlestop tour from Auschwitz hot-dogs to Krakow's kitsch Judaica. Winner |
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The
White Rose Die Weiße Rose West Germany, 1982, 108 minutes German with English subtitles Director: Michael Verhoeven Cast: Lena Stolze, Wulf Kessler, Oliver Siebert Lena Stolze (The Nasty Girl) stars in this award-winning feature film based on the true story of five German students and their professor who formed the Munich-based secret society dedicated to protesting the Nazi regime. The political controversy in Germany surrounding Verhoeven's film directly caused the German government to officially invalidate the Nazi "People's Court" system that sentenced the White Rose group to death. Michael
Verhoeven Retrospective |
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The
World Was Ours: The Jewish Legacy of Vilna USA, 2006, 60 minutes Director: Mira Jedwabnik Van Doren The rich and exciting history of the Jews of Vilna is chronicled with wonderful historical material and poignant first-hand accounts of the vibrancy of Jewish life in this once thriving community. Produced with careful attention to detail and historical accuracy, this visual record of the city known as the “Jerusalem of Lithuania” is a fitting tribute to the 60,000 individuals who were murdered during World War II, destroying the people but not the legacy of their cultural heritage. |
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Excerpts
and Discussion of The Unknown Soldier Der Unbekannte Soldat Germany, 2006 German with English subtitles Director: Michael Verhoeven JEWISHFILM.2006 will screen, for the first time in America, significant excerpts of this important new documentary followed by a discussion with filmmaker Michael Verhoeven. Inspired by the watershed exhibition The Wehrmacht Exhibition—which included photos of Wehrmacht officers killing civilians, directly challenging the enduring image of the “morally proper” German soldier—Verhoeven investigates evidence of the participation of German forces in Nazi crimes in this new documentary. Michael
Verhoeven Retrospective |
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Close
to Home Karov La Bayit Israel, 2005, 90 minutes Hebrew with English subtitles Directors: Dalia Hager and Vidi Bilu Cast: Smadar Sayar, Naama Schendar, Irit Suki, Katia Zimbris In this new Israeli feature film two 18-year-old Israeli women, Smadar and Mirit, find themselves thrown together while serving their compulsory military service. Assigned to detain and check the identity papers of Palestinians, the young women develop a friendship in this immediate and contemporary examination of the Israeli occupation. |
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The
Verhoevens Die Verhoevens Germany, 2003, 75 minutes German with English subtitles Director: Felix Moeller Beginning with patriarch Paul Verhoeven, three generations of the Verhoeven family have worked behind as well as in front of the camera, producing some of Germany’s finest films. This portrait of Michael Verhoeven, his wife, actress Senta Berger, and their children is both a celebration of this remarkable family and a chronicle of the history of German film. Michael
Verhoeven Retrospective |
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The
Nasty Girl Das Schreckliche Mädchen West Germany, 1989, 94 minutes German with English subtitles Director: Michael Verhoeven Cast: Lena Stoltze, Hans-Reinhard Müller, Monika Baumgartner When a Bavarian schoolgirl researches the history of her town, she discovers some nasty secrets about her forefathers and their complicity with the Nazis. Nomination,
Best Foreign Language Film Michael
Verhoeven Retrospective |
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My
Mother's Courage Mutters Courage Germany/UK/Austria/Ireland, 1995, 89 minutes German with English subtitles Director: Michael Verhoeven Cast: George Tabori, Pauline Collins, Ulrich Tukur An adaptation of George Tabori’s story depicting the day in 1944 when his mother was plucked from her everyday life and thrown into the surreal nightmare of mass deportation. Silver
Award Michael
Verhoeven Retrospective |
| National
Center For Jewish Film,
Brandeis University, Lown 102,
MS053, Waltham MA 02454 |
