Israeli-Arab-Muslim-Jewish cinema in America (Theatrical & DVD releases)
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Press release
First Run Features Announces the U.S. Theatrical Premiere of
Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment
Opening April 25, 2012, at New York's Quad Cinema
Set against the backdrop of its glorious 100-year history, Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment reveals the
heartbreak and hope of Israel's modern kibbutz movement as a new generation struggles to ensure its survival.
Can a radically socialist institution survive a new capitalist reality? How will painful reforms affect those who still believe in the kibbutz experiment, and continue to call it home?
Through the lens of its communal movement, director Toby Perl Freilich explores the modern history of Israel, from its revolutionary settlers to the political upheaval that shook the socialist foundations of the state.
We meet first, second and third generation members from kibbutzim like Degania, the flagship commune established in 1909; Hulda, once near collapse and recently privatized; and Sasa, the first to be settled entirely by Americans and today Israel's wealthiest kibbutz.
With their desire to create a Jewish homeland and build a more just society, the first settlers helped place kibbutzim in the
vanguard of Israeli history. In doing so, they became a magnet for all those who shared one thing in common - a powerful urge to invent their own life.
As the film progresses, the core drama shifts from Can it survive? to Yes, but at what price? Although it examines the
impact of external political and economic forces on the kibbutz movement, Inventing Our Life also demonstrates how the system's own most cherished principles may have helped to undermine it.
In addition to the voices of contemporary and former kibbutz members, Inventing Our Life features narrative exposition and commentary from leading Israeli academics including philosophers Avishai Margalit, Menachem Brinker and Moshe Halbertal, who place the kibbutz story within its wider historical and intellectual framework.
Filmmaker Toby Perl Freilich is a freelance film producer and writer. Freilich co-produced and wrote the documentary film Secret Lives: Hidden Children & Their Rescuers, selected by Andrew Sarris as one of the ten best non-fiction films of 2003 and featured on HBO/Cinemax.
The film also won a Christopher Award for "affirming the highest values of the human spirit." Freilich was nominated for a news and documentary Emmy in the category of Outstanding Achievement in a Craft: Writing, and Secret Lives was nominated in the category of Outstanding Historical Programming.
She also was co-producer of the Emmy-nominated Resistance: Untold Stories of Jewish Partisans, an independent PBS documentary that was broadcast nationally in April 2002. Freilich is a contributing writer to The Forward and Tablet Magazine.
INVENTING OUR LIFE
80 minutes, digital, stereo, English & Hebrew w/English subtitles, documentary, 2011
Narrator:Tracy Thorne
Director, Producer & Writer: Toby Perl Freilich
Editor: Juliet Weber
Director of Photography: Itamar Hadar
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First Run Features Announces the U.S. Theatrical Premiere of
Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment
Opening April 25, 2012, at New York's Quad Cinema
Set against the backdrop of its glorious 100-year history, Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment reveals the
heartbreak and hope of Israel's modern kibbutz movement as a new generation struggles to ensure its survival.
Can a radically socialist institution survive a new capitalist reality? How will painful reforms affect those who still believe in the kibbutz experiment, and continue to call it home?
Through the lens of its communal movement, director Toby Perl Freilich explores the modern history of Israel, from its revolutionary settlers to the political upheaval that shook the socialist foundations of the state.
We meet first, second and third generation members from kibbutzim like Degania, the flagship commune established in 1909; Hulda, once near collapse and recently privatized; and Sasa, the first to be settled entirely by Americans and today Israel's wealthiest kibbutz.
With their desire to create a Jewish homeland and build a more just society, the first settlers helped place kibbutzim in the
vanguard of Israeli history. In doing so, they became a magnet for all those who shared one thing in common - a powerful urge to invent their own life.
As the film progresses, the core drama shifts from Can it survive? to Yes, but at what price? Although it examines the
impact of external political and economic forces on the kibbutz movement, Inventing Our Life also demonstrates how the system's own most cherished principles may have helped to undermine it.
In addition to the voices of contemporary and former kibbutz members, Inventing Our Life features narrative exposition and commentary from leading Israeli academics including philosophers Avishai Margalit, Menachem Brinker and Moshe Halbertal, who place the kibbutz story within its wider historical and intellectual framework.
Filmmaker Toby Perl Freilich is a freelance film producer and writer. Freilich co-produced and wrote the documentary film Secret Lives: Hidden Children & Their Rescuers, selected by Andrew Sarris as one of the ten best non-fiction films of 2003 and featured on HBO/Cinemax.
The film also won a Christopher Award for "affirming the highest values of the human spirit." Freilich was nominated for a news and documentary Emmy in the category of Outstanding Achievement in a Craft: Writing, and Secret Lives was nominated in the category of Outstanding Historical Programming.
She also was co-producer of the Emmy-nominated Resistance: Untold Stories of Jewish Partisans, an independent PBS documentary that was broadcast nationally in April 2002. Freilich is a contributing writer to The Forward and Tablet Magazine.
INVENTING OUR LIFE
80 minutes, digital, stereo, English & Hebrew w/English subtitles, documentary, 2011
Narrator:Tracy Thorne
Director, Producer & Writer: Toby Perl Freilich
Editor: Juliet Weber
Director of Photography: Itamar Hadar
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2011 ARCHIVES
Press release
FORDSON
OPENS NATIONALLY SEPT. 9, 2011 AT AMC THEATRES®
Theatrical Release Follows Grand Jury Award, Sold-Out Screenings at 2011 Traverse City Film Festival
(August 1, 2011, New York, NY) – Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football, an award-winning documentary showing all-American life in a typical high school that happens to be mostly Arab-American, will open in New York at the AMC® Empire 25 and ten other markets including LA, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and Washington, DC via AMC independent™ on September 9, 2011.
Fordson follows four talented high school football players as they gear up for their big senior year rivalry game during the last ten days of Ramadan, a month when Muslims traditionally fast every day from sunrise to sundown. Following several notable film festival awards, Fordson will make its theatrical premiere as the world marks the tenth anniversary of 9/11.
Fordson begins on September 11, 2009 and concludes at the end of Ramadan ten days later. The story unfolds at historic Fordson High School, a public school built by Henry Ford in 1922 that was once all white, but now attracts a 98% Arab-American population. As the Fordson team readies itself to play its affluent, cross-town rival, the film depicts a community that is desperately holding onto its Islamic faith while struggling to gain acceptance in post 9-11 America.
Fordson documents not only the players' outer struggle to overcome the hunger and thirst of fasting as they prepare for the big game, but also their inner struggle to reconcile their Arab heritage with their American birthright. It is an inspirational story of an immigrant community's resilience, that attempts to answer the question, “Who is an American?"
Through the eyes of the team, their coaches, and their fans, Fordson offers an unprecedented glimpse inside the lives of a community that is home to the largest concentration of Arabs in any city outside of the Middle East, and their determination to hold on to the American Dream.
Rashid Ghazi, a Chicago-based sports marketing and television consultant whose clients include ESPN Networks, directed and executive produced Fordson. A first-time filmmaker, Ghazi began developing the project in 2003. Fordson is produced by his film company, North Shore Films, in association with Quraishi Productions. The film is produced by Emmy Award-winning television journalist Ash-har Quraishi and award-winning documentary producer Basma Babar-Quraishi, CNN veterans who headed up CNN’s Pakistan bureau for the network’s post-9/11 coverage.
Fordson recently received the Grand Jury Award for Best U.S. Documentary at the 2011 Traverse City Film Festival, with founder and filmmaker Michael Moore commenting, “It’s one of the best documentaries I’ve seen this year…I want everybody in the country to see this film. You told an American story with the American game.” It also won Best Documentary at the 2011 Manhattan Film Festival. Fordson previously won the Special Grand Jury Award at the 2011 Slamdance Film Festival, Special Jury Prize at the DEADCenter Film Festival, the Audience and Founders Award at the 2011 Politics on Film Festival, the Best Documentary Award at the Detroit-Windsor Film Festival and was named Champion of the World Cup Film Awards.
On the Web: Fordsonthemovie.com
Running Time: 93 minutes
Featuring:Bilal Abu-Omarah, Ail Baidoun, Hassan Houssaiky, Baquer Sayed, Fouad Zaban, & Imad Fadlallah
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FORDSON
OPENS NATIONALLY SEPT. 9, 2011 AT AMC THEATRES®
Theatrical Release Follows Grand Jury Award, Sold-Out Screenings at 2011 Traverse City Film Festival
(August 1, 2011, New York, NY) – Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football, an award-winning documentary showing all-American life in a typical high school that happens to be mostly Arab-American, will open in New York at the AMC® Empire 25 and ten other markets including LA, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and Washington, DC via AMC independent™ on September 9, 2011.
Fordson follows four talented high school football players as they gear up for their big senior year rivalry game during the last ten days of Ramadan, a month when Muslims traditionally fast every day from sunrise to sundown. Following several notable film festival awards, Fordson will make its theatrical premiere as the world marks the tenth anniversary of 9/11.
Fordson begins on September 11, 2009 and concludes at the end of Ramadan ten days later. The story unfolds at historic Fordson High School, a public school built by Henry Ford in 1922 that was once all white, but now attracts a 98% Arab-American population. As the Fordson team readies itself to play its affluent, cross-town rival, the film depicts a community that is desperately holding onto its Islamic faith while struggling to gain acceptance in post 9-11 America.
Fordson documents not only the players' outer struggle to overcome the hunger and thirst of fasting as they prepare for the big game, but also their inner struggle to reconcile their Arab heritage with their American birthright. It is an inspirational story of an immigrant community's resilience, that attempts to answer the question, “Who is an American?"
Through the eyes of the team, their coaches, and their fans, Fordson offers an unprecedented glimpse inside the lives of a community that is home to the largest concentration of Arabs in any city outside of the Middle East, and their determination to hold on to the American Dream.
Rashid Ghazi, a Chicago-based sports marketing and television consultant whose clients include ESPN Networks, directed and executive produced Fordson. A first-time filmmaker, Ghazi began developing the project in 2003. Fordson is produced by his film company, North Shore Films, in association with Quraishi Productions. The film is produced by Emmy Award-winning television journalist Ash-har Quraishi and award-winning documentary producer Basma Babar-Quraishi, CNN veterans who headed up CNN’s Pakistan bureau for the network’s post-9/11 coverage.
Fordson recently received the Grand Jury Award for Best U.S. Documentary at the 2011 Traverse City Film Festival, with founder and filmmaker Michael Moore commenting, “It’s one of the best documentaries I’ve seen this year…I want everybody in the country to see this film. You told an American story with the American game.” It also won Best Documentary at the 2011 Manhattan Film Festival. Fordson previously won the Special Grand Jury Award at the 2011 Slamdance Film Festival, Special Jury Prize at the DEADCenter Film Festival, the Audience and Founders Award at the 2011 Politics on Film Festival, the Best Documentary Award at the Detroit-Windsor Film Festival and was named Champion of the World Cup Film Awards.
On the Web: Fordsonthemovie.com
Running Time: 93 minutes
Featuring:Bilal Abu-Omarah, Ail Baidoun, Hassan Houssaiky, Baquer Sayed, Fouad Zaban, & Imad Fadlallah
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Advance DVD-press release
Lorber Films presents
Salt of This Sea (2010) on DVD
New York, NY - April 27, 2011 - Lorber Films is proud to announce the DVD release of Annemarie Jacir's Salt of This Sea (2010). The film comes to DVD priced at $29.95. It is available for a street date of June 7, 2011.
An urgent and devastating portrait of life in Palestine, Salt of This Sea is essential viewing. Sixty years after her grandparents' exile from Jaffa, Soraya (Suheir Hammad) decides to leave Brooklyn and return to her homeland. Upon arriving, she finds out that her family's bank account was frozen after the Arab-Israeli war, and that discovery makes Soraya determined to reclaim her birthright.
With the help of her disillusioned lover Emad (Saleh Bakri) and his filmmaker pal Marwan (Riyad Ideis), they plan one big heist to settle the historical debt. Driving through the countryside like an Arab (and pacifist) Bonnie and Clyde, Soraya and Emad discover their roots while rejecting their status as exiles.
The first fiction feature of Palestinian-American director Annemarie Jacir, and the first feature film by a female director from Palestine, Salt of This Sea is an intimate, urgent and rousing piece of political filmmaking.
An official selection at the Cannes, Tribeca and London film festivals, Salt of This Sea also won the Cinema in Motion Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival, Best Screenplay at the Dubai International Film Festival, and the International Federation of Film Critics' Award.
Salt of This Sea
Director: Annemarie Jacir
Genre: Drama
SRP: $29.95
Street date: June 14, 2011
Palestine / 104 minutes / Color / Not Rated / 1.85:1 (16x9) / in English, Arabic & Spanish w/English subtitles
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Lorber Films presents
Salt of This Sea (2010) on DVD
New York, NY - April 27, 2011 - Lorber Films is proud to announce the DVD release of Annemarie Jacir's Salt of This Sea (2010). The film comes to DVD priced at $29.95. It is available for a street date of June 7, 2011.
An urgent and devastating portrait of life in Palestine, Salt of This Sea is essential viewing. Sixty years after her grandparents' exile from Jaffa, Soraya (Suheir Hammad) decides to leave Brooklyn and return to her homeland. Upon arriving, she finds out that her family's bank account was frozen after the Arab-Israeli war, and that discovery makes Soraya determined to reclaim her birthright.
With the help of her disillusioned lover Emad (Saleh Bakri) and his filmmaker pal Marwan (Riyad Ideis), they plan one big heist to settle the historical debt. Driving through the countryside like an Arab (and pacifist) Bonnie and Clyde, Soraya and Emad discover their roots while rejecting their status as exiles.
The first fiction feature of Palestinian-American director Annemarie Jacir, and the first feature film by a female director from Palestine, Salt of This Sea is an intimate, urgent and rousing piece of political filmmaking.
An official selection at the Cannes, Tribeca and London film festivals, Salt of This Sea also won the Cinema in Motion Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival, Best Screenplay at the Dubai International Film Festival, and the International Federation of Film Critics' Award.
Salt of This Sea
Director: Annemarie Jacir
Genre: Drama
SRP: $29.95
Street date: June 14, 2011
Palestine / 104 minutes / Color / Not Rated / 1.85:1 (16x9) / in English, Arabic & Spanish w/English subtitles
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Press release
LORBER FILMS ANNOUNCES DVD RELEASE OF ...
THE "SOCALLED" MOVIE (2010)
A DOC ABOUT KLEZMER HIP HOP ARTIST
New York, NY - February 22, 2011 - Lorber Films is proud to announce the DVD release of The Socalled Movie (2010), from Knitting Factory Entertainment, a documentary about klezmer hip-hop artist Socalled, aka Josh Dolgin.
The film comes to DVD with special features including deleted scenes and additional interviews. It is priced at $29.95. The DVD is available on March 22, 2011.
A pianist, singer, arranger, rapper, producer and composer (and also a magician, filmmaker and visual artist), Socalled is blasting through the boundaries that separate music from different cultures, eras and generations. The "Socalled" Movie is a kaleidoscopic portrait, offering up 18 entertaining short films about his creative process.
Each short reveals something different, creating a nuanced picture of an individual who's artistically fearless. Shot in Socalled's Montreal neighborhood, where Hasidic Jews and hipsters crowd the sidewalks, and in New York, France and Ukraine, The "Socalled" Movie is a multi-faceted depiction of inspiration, collaboration and transformation.
This DVD edition features deleted scenes and interviews, including "Rehearsing a Hasidic Melody", "Elaine: My Klezmer Heritage", "Sound Check on a Boat in Lyon", "Singing in harmony with his buddies", "Happy People", and the music video, "You Are Never Alone".
THE "SOCALLED" MOVIE
Director: Garry Beitel
Country: Canada
Genre: Documentary
86 min. / in English / 1.85:1
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LORBER FILMS ANNOUNCES DVD RELEASE OF ...
THE "SOCALLED" MOVIE (2010)
A DOC ABOUT KLEZMER HIP HOP ARTIST
New York, NY - February 22, 2011 - Lorber Films is proud to announce the DVD release of The Socalled Movie (2010), from Knitting Factory Entertainment, a documentary about klezmer hip-hop artist Socalled, aka Josh Dolgin.
The film comes to DVD with special features including deleted scenes and additional interviews. It is priced at $29.95. The DVD is available on March 22, 2011.
A pianist, singer, arranger, rapper, producer and composer (and also a magician, filmmaker and visual artist), Socalled is blasting through the boundaries that separate music from different cultures, eras and generations. The "Socalled" Movie is a kaleidoscopic portrait, offering up 18 entertaining short films about his creative process.
Each short reveals something different, creating a nuanced picture of an individual who's artistically fearless. Shot in Socalled's Montreal neighborhood, where Hasidic Jews and hipsters crowd the sidewalks, and in New York, France and Ukraine, The "Socalled" Movie is a multi-faceted depiction of inspiration, collaboration and transformation.
This DVD edition features deleted scenes and interviews, including "Rehearsing a Hasidic Melody", "Elaine: My Klezmer Heritage", "Sound Check on a Boat in Lyon", "Singing in harmony with his buddies", "Happy People", and the music video, "You Are Never Alone".
THE "SOCALLED" MOVIE
Director: Garry Beitel
Country: Canada
Genre: Documentary
86 min. / in English / 1.85:1
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Press release
LORBER FILMS RELEASES
BAHMAN GHOBADI'S
A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES (2000)
ON DVD IN FEBRUARY 2011
New York, NY - February 1, 2011 - Lorber Films announces the DVD release of A Time for Drunken Horses (2000), a powerful and moving story of Kurdish life in Iran from director Bahman Ghobadi (Turtles Can Fly, No One Knows About Persian Cats).
Winner of the Camera D'or at the Cannes Film Festival, the Special Jury Award at the Chicago International Film Festival, and was named Best Feature at the Santa Fe Film Festival. The DVD is priced at $24.95. The street date is February 15, 2011.
Ghobadi's debut film explores a Kurdish family, living in an area of extreme poverty on the border of Iran and Iraq. After losing their parents, the four children must provide for themselves, and the oldest son must face the rough terrain and bandits in order to raise money to pay for an operation that could save the life of his developmentally-disabled younger brother.
However, when plans for an arranged marriage are made, it threatens to separate the siblings and bring them apart from each other.
A Time For Drunken Horses
Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Country: Iran
Genre: Drama
2000 / 1.85:1 / 75 minutes
Farsi and Kurdish with English subtitles / Not rated / Color
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LORBER FILMS RELEASES
BAHMAN GHOBADI'S
A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES (2000)
ON DVD IN FEBRUARY 2011
New York, NY - February 1, 2011 - Lorber Films announces the DVD release of A Time for Drunken Horses (2000), a powerful and moving story of Kurdish life in Iran from director Bahman Ghobadi (Turtles Can Fly, No One Knows About Persian Cats).
Winner of the Camera D'or at the Cannes Film Festival, the Special Jury Award at the Chicago International Film Festival, and was named Best Feature at the Santa Fe Film Festival. The DVD is priced at $24.95. The street date is February 15, 2011.
Ghobadi's debut film explores a Kurdish family, living in an area of extreme poverty on the border of Iran and Iraq. After losing their parents, the four children must provide for themselves, and the oldest son must face the rough terrain and bandits in order to raise money to pay for an operation that could save the life of his developmentally-disabled younger brother.
However, when plans for an arranged marriage are made, it threatens to separate the siblings and bring them apart from each other.
A Time For Drunken Horses
Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Country: Iran
Genre: Drama
2000 / 1.85:1 / 75 minutes
Farsi and Kurdish with English subtitles / Not rated / Color
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Press release
THE TIME THAT REMAINS
Opening Night Film of MoMA'S Arab Film Series
"Mapping Subjectivity"
On behalf of IFC Films, THE TIME THAT REMAINS, a semiautobiographical black comedy from Palestinian-Israeli director Elia Suleiman (DIVINE INTERVENTION), which spans 50 years in the life of a middle-class Nazareth family.
The opening night film of MoMA’s upcoming Arab cinema series “Mapping Subjectivity,” THE TIME THAT REMAINS premiered in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and will open on Friday, January 7, 2011 at IFC Center. It will also be available nationwide on IFC Films’ video on demand platform.
Subtitled “Chronicle of a Present Absentee,” this humorous, heartbreaking film (the final installment in a trilogy that includes CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE and DIVINE INTERVENTION) is set among the Israeli Arab community and shot largely in homes and places in which Suleiman’s family once lived. Inspired by his father’s diaries, letters his mother sent to family members who had fled the Israeli occupation, and the director’s own recollections, the film spans from 1948 until the present, recounting the saga of Suleiman’s family in elegantly stylized episodes. Inserting himself as a silent observer reminiscent of Buster Keaton, Suleiman trains a keen eye on the absurdities of life in Nazareth.
Born in Nazareth in 1960 to Arab parents, Elia Suleiman studied cinema at New York University and made his first short films there, before moving to Jerusalem in 1994 and creating a film department at Birzeit University, the first college of higher education in the Palestinian territories. He emerged on the international scene at the 1996 Venice Film Festival with CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE, which won the prize for Best First Film. In 2002, he wrote, directed and starred in DIVINE INTERVENTION, a series of interlinked sketches set in a middle-class area of Nazareth and at an Israeli checkpoint on the road between Jerusalem and Ramallah, which won the Jury Prize at Cannes.
109 minutes. In Arabic and hebrew with English subtitles.
An IFC Films release. Not rated.
Opens theatrically next year on January 7 at IFC Center
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THE TIME THAT REMAINS
Opening Night Film of MoMA'S Arab Film Series
"Mapping Subjectivity"
On behalf of IFC Films, THE TIME THAT REMAINS, a semiautobiographical black comedy from Palestinian-Israeli director Elia Suleiman (DIVINE INTERVENTION), which spans 50 years in the life of a middle-class Nazareth family.
The opening night film of MoMA’s upcoming Arab cinema series “Mapping Subjectivity,” THE TIME THAT REMAINS premiered in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and will open on Friday, January 7, 2011 at IFC Center. It will also be available nationwide on IFC Films’ video on demand platform.
Subtitled “Chronicle of a Present Absentee,” this humorous, heartbreaking film (the final installment in a trilogy that includes CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE and DIVINE INTERVENTION) is set among the Israeli Arab community and shot largely in homes and places in which Suleiman’s family once lived. Inspired by his father’s diaries, letters his mother sent to family members who had fled the Israeli occupation, and the director’s own recollections, the film spans from 1948 until the present, recounting the saga of Suleiman’s family in elegantly stylized episodes. Inserting himself as a silent observer reminiscent of Buster Keaton, Suleiman trains a keen eye on the absurdities of life in Nazareth.
Born in Nazareth in 1960 to Arab parents, Elia Suleiman studied cinema at New York University and made his first short films there, before moving to Jerusalem in 1994 and creating a film department at Birzeit University, the first college of higher education in the Palestinian territories. He emerged on the international scene at the 1996 Venice Film Festival with CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE, which won the prize for Best First Film. In 2002, he wrote, directed and starred in DIVINE INTERVENTION, a series of interlinked sketches set in a middle-class area of Nazareth and at an Israeli checkpoint on the road between Jerusalem and Ramallah, which won the Jury Prize at Cannes.
109 minutes. In Arabic and hebrew with English subtitles.
An IFC Films release. Not rated.
Opens theatrically next year on January 7 at IFC Center
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Press release
7th Annual International Sikh Film Festival Presents
New Documentaries on Sikh Culture and Art
October 22-23, 2010 in New York
September 23, 2010 - The Sikh Art and Film Foundation will present its Seventh Annual Sikh Film Festival on October 22-23, 2010.
The Sikh Film Festival will offer a range of 12 films, all documentaries in English or in Punjabi with English subtitles, featuring heartrending Sikh stories from across the globe, from both established and emerging filmmakers. Faithful to its mission of creating awareness and pride in the diversity, culture and history of the Sikhs, the festival will showcase exemplary masterpieces in filmmaking, art and direction.
The two-day event will be held Friday and Saturday, October 22 and 23, at Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street in New York, with an October 23 evening gala and awards ceremony closing the festival at the New York Public Library in Bryant Park.
The October 22 premiere evening at Asia Society will present three films—including a world premiere and North American premiere—from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The films were selected by the festival to elevate the viewer’s understanding of Sikhism, to teach, and to inspire.
Featured is the World Premiere of a new documentary, “Holy Kitchens: A True Business,” directed by Dalit Singh, produced by Andrew Blackmore and Dobbyn Webberz, and featuring celebrity chef, restaurateur and food writer Vikas Khanna. “Holy Kitchens: A True Business” is about the Sikh religious tenet of providing free food (Langar) through its kitchen temples, to all regardless of their belief or religion. The film provides a historical perspective of the origin of Sikhism.
The festival will also present the North American premiere of “Harvest of Grief,” directed by Anwar Jamal and produced by Rasil Singh Basu, a documentary that deals with a farmer’s suicide in Sangrur in south Punjab. The film details the alarming agricultural scenario in Punjab that has been caused by a chain of disruptive historical events and myopic government policies.
Closing the trio of films on Friday is The Rebel Queen, directed by Michael Singh, a film that deals with how the daughter of an Indian dog kennel, Maharani Jindan, wife of one Maharajah and mother of another, owner almost brought the British Empire to its knees, and the ensuing ruthless propaganda to scramble back and fight her.
Following the triple feature on October 22nd, an after-party will take place from 10:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. at the Garden Court, Asia Society.
On Saturday, October 23, 2010, the Festival will showcase new short films from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and documentaries from 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m at Asia Society.
Among the movies that will be shown are “Nothing is Impossible,” “Cancer Express,” “Riding the Tiger” and “Why? We are Killing Our Daughters.”
The two-day Sikh Film Festival will close October 23 at 7pm with the Sikh Art and Film Foundation's annual Heritage Gala at the New York Public Library at Bryant Park. The evening will celebrate the rich heritage, traditions and culture of the Sikhs with a star-studded evening of dance, art exhibition and auction, and live performances by Bhangra sensation Sukhbir and Oscar performing choreographer Rujata. Esteemed actor and Member of Indian Parlament Raj Babbar, entrepreneur and educator Shri Vikramit S. Sahney and renowned artist Aparna Caur will also receive Sikh Heritage Awards at this event.
At the gala, winning films in the category of Best Short Film and Best Documentary will be recognized with cash prizes totaling $15,000. Judging the films in competition are distinguished jurors Dr. Narinder S. Kapany (Indian born American physicist, widely acknowledged as the father of optical fiber), Robert Lupone (renowned American actor and artistic director both on stage, film and television) and Vicki Mabrey (correspondent for ABC News' "Nightline”).
Announcing the 2010 Festival and Gala, Mr. Tejinder S. Bindra, President of the Sikh Art and Film Foundation, said “I am humbled with the encouragement and overwhelming response we are getting for our festival year after year. At only the seventh year of its inception the Sikh Film Festival has grown phenomenally. I feel much pride in witnessing the interest of young Sikhs in our culture and their enthusiasm in participating in this event.” He went on to add, “I hope they are inspired by our tradition and culture, and continue to make us proud Sikhs in society.”
For tickets, itinerary, and schedule of films please visit http://www.sikharts.com or
call 877-SIKH-ARTS
Follow Sikh Arts and Film Foundation on Facebook.
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About the Sikh Arts and Film Foundation
The Sikh Art and Film Foundation is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to creating awareness of and pride in the diversity, culture and history of the Sikhs, as well as the contributions of Sikhs in American society.
7th Annual International Sikh Film Festival Presents
New Documentaries on Sikh Culture and Art
October 22-23, 2010 in New York
September 23, 2010 - The Sikh Art and Film Foundation will present its Seventh Annual Sikh Film Festival on October 22-23, 2010.
The Sikh Film Festival will offer a range of 12 films, all documentaries in English or in Punjabi with English subtitles, featuring heartrending Sikh stories from across the globe, from both established and emerging filmmakers. Faithful to its mission of creating awareness and pride in the diversity, culture and history of the Sikhs, the festival will showcase exemplary masterpieces in filmmaking, art and direction.
The two-day event will be held Friday and Saturday, October 22 and 23, at Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street in New York, with an October 23 evening gala and awards ceremony closing the festival at the New York Public Library in Bryant Park.
The October 22 premiere evening at Asia Society will present three films—including a world premiere and North American premiere—from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The films were selected by the festival to elevate the viewer’s understanding of Sikhism, to teach, and to inspire.
Featured is the World Premiere of a new documentary, “Holy Kitchens: A True Business,” directed by Dalit Singh, produced by Andrew Blackmore and Dobbyn Webberz, and featuring celebrity chef, restaurateur and food writer Vikas Khanna. “Holy Kitchens: A True Business” is about the Sikh religious tenet of providing free food (Langar) through its kitchen temples, to all regardless of their belief or religion. The film provides a historical perspective of the origin of Sikhism.
The festival will also present the North American premiere of “Harvest of Grief,” directed by Anwar Jamal and produced by Rasil Singh Basu, a documentary that deals with a farmer’s suicide in Sangrur in south Punjab. The film details the alarming agricultural scenario in Punjab that has been caused by a chain of disruptive historical events and myopic government policies.
Closing the trio of films on Friday is The Rebel Queen, directed by Michael Singh, a film that deals with how the daughter of an Indian dog kennel, Maharani Jindan, wife of one Maharajah and mother of another, owner almost brought the British Empire to its knees, and the ensuing ruthless propaganda to scramble back and fight her.
Following the triple feature on October 22nd, an after-party will take place from 10:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. at the Garden Court, Asia Society.
On Saturday, October 23, 2010, the Festival will showcase new short films from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and documentaries from 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m at Asia Society.
Among the movies that will be shown are “Nothing is Impossible,” “Cancer Express,” “Riding the Tiger” and “Why? We are Killing Our Daughters.”
The two-day Sikh Film Festival will close October 23 at 7pm with the Sikh Art and Film Foundation's annual Heritage Gala at the New York Public Library at Bryant Park. The evening will celebrate the rich heritage, traditions and culture of the Sikhs with a star-studded evening of dance, art exhibition and auction, and live performances by Bhangra sensation Sukhbir and Oscar performing choreographer Rujata. Esteemed actor and Member of Indian Parlament Raj Babbar, entrepreneur and educator Shri Vikramit S. Sahney and renowned artist Aparna Caur will also receive Sikh Heritage Awards at this event.
At the gala, winning films in the category of Best Short Film and Best Documentary will be recognized with cash prizes totaling $15,000. Judging the films in competition are distinguished jurors Dr. Narinder S. Kapany (Indian born American physicist, widely acknowledged as the father of optical fiber), Robert Lupone (renowned American actor and artistic director both on stage, film and television) and Vicki Mabrey (correspondent for ABC News' "Nightline”).
Announcing the 2010 Festival and Gala, Mr. Tejinder S. Bindra, President of the Sikh Art and Film Foundation, said “I am humbled with the encouragement and overwhelming response we are getting for our festival year after year. At only the seventh year of its inception the Sikh Film Festival has grown phenomenally. I feel much pride in witnessing the interest of young Sikhs in our culture and their enthusiasm in participating in this event.” He went on to add, “I hope they are inspired by our tradition and culture, and continue to make us proud Sikhs in society.”
For tickets, itinerary, and schedule of films please visit http://www.sikharts.com or
call 877-SIKH-ARTS
Follow Sikh Arts and Film Foundation on Facebook.
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###
About the Sikh Arts and Film Foundation
The Sikh Art and Film Foundation is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to creating awareness of and pride in the diversity, culture and history of the Sikhs, as well as the contributions of Sikhs in American society.
(2010 USA release)- "Ajami" is Now Playing in Select USA theaters!
Press release
Kino to Open
Ajami (2009)
on February 3, 2010 in New York City
Israel's Submission to the 82nd Academy Awards®
New York, NY - October 30, 2009 - Kino International is proud to announce the theatrical release of Ajami (2009), the acclaimed directorial debut of the Israeli-Palestinian filmmaking duo Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti. Ajami is set to open at New York's Film Forum and Lincoln Plaza on February 3, 2010, with a national rollout in March.
Winner of the Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing awards at this year's Israeli Film Academy ceremony (the Israeli Oscars), Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti's feature film debut had its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival in the Director's Fortnight program, where it received a special mention by the festival's Caméra d'Or jury.
Jaffa's Ajami neighborhood is a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians. Back and forth in time, and through the eyes of various characters, we witness the tragic fragility of human existence in an area where enemies often live side-by-side.
Thirteen-year-old Nasri (Fouad Habash) and his older brother Omar (Shahir Kabaha) face constant fear when their family becomes a target of assassination, after their uncle foolishly wounds a prominent clan member. At the same time, and not too far away, the young Palestinian refugee Malek (Ibrahim Frege) works illegally in Israel to finance his mother's life-saving surgery. An affluent Palestinian man who dreams of building a life with his Jewish girlfriend, and a Jewish cop obsessed with finding his missing brother round out this unique multi-character piece.
Directors Copti and Shani spent months auditioning locals (many of whom are from Jaffa's multi-ethnic Ajami neighborhood) and then, conducting extensive rehearsals with the cast. And cinematographer Boaz Yehonatan Yacov, who also lensed Kino's My Father, My Lord (2007), beautifully captured the spaces and street dynamics of this multi-faceted area of the world.
Since its debut on the film festival circuit, Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti's debut feature film has received strong reviews for its complex and powerful narrative, as well as for its authentic portrayal of life in Jaffa, a region in the south of Tel Aviv.
As of 2009, there are more than one million Arabs who live in (and are citizens of) Israel, and Ajami's powerful narrative reveals some of the stories and dramas of the ongoing Palestian and Israeli fight towards a peaceful coexistence.
MOVIE website-http://www.kino.com/ajami/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOW PLAYING in select USA theaters!!!
April 9, 2010
Montgomery Cinema (Belle Mead,NJ)
Clearview Bala Theater (Bala Cynwyd,PA)
PGA Gardens Cinamax (Palm Beach Gardens,FL)
Rialto Cinemas Lakeside (Santa Rosa,CA)
Regal Fox Tower Stadium 10 (Portland,OR)
Bear Tooth Theatre Pub (Anchorage,AK)
HELD OVER
West Newton Cinema (West Newton,MA)
Regal Delray Beach 18 (Delray Beach,FL)
Regal Shadowood 16 (Boca Raton,FL)
Chez Artiste (Denver,CO)
Harkins Camelview 5 (Scottsdale,AZ)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kino to Open
Ajami (2009)
on February 3, 2010 in New York City
Israel's Submission to the 82nd Academy Awards®
New York, NY - October 30, 2009 - Kino International is proud to announce the theatrical release of Ajami (2009), the acclaimed directorial debut of the Israeli-Palestinian filmmaking duo Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti. Ajami is set to open at New York's Film Forum and Lincoln Plaza on February 3, 2010, with a national rollout in March.
Winner of the Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing awards at this year's Israeli Film Academy ceremony (the Israeli Oscars), Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti's feature film debut had its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival in the Director's Fortnight program, where it received a special mention by the festival's Caméra d'Or jury.
Jaffa's Ajami neighborhood is a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians. Back and forth in time, and through the eyes of various characters, we witness the tragic fragility of human existence in an area where enemies often live side-by-side.
Thirteen-year-old Nasri (Fouad Habash) and his older brother Omar (Shahir Kabaha) face constant fear when their family becomes a target of assassination, after their uncle foolishly wounds a prominent clan member. At the same time, and not too far away, the young Palestinian refugee Malek (Ibrahim Frege) works illegally in Israel to finance his mother's life-saving surgery. An affluent Palestinian man who dreams of building a life with his Jewish girlfriend, and a Jewish cop obsessed with finding his missing brother round out this unique multi-character piece.
Directors Copti and Shani spent months auditioning locals (many of whom are from Jaffa's multi-ethnic Ajami neighborhood) and then, conducting extensive rehearsals with the cast. And cinematographer Boaz Yehonatan Yacov, who also lensed Kino's My Father, My Lord (2007), beautifully captured the spaces and street dynamics of this multi-faceted area of the world.
Since its debut on the film festival circuit, Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti's debut feature film has received strong reviews for its complex and powerful narrative, as well as for its authentic portrayal of life in Jaffa, a region in the south of Tel Aviv.
As of 2009, there are more than one million Arabs who live in (and are citizens of) Israel, and Ajami's powerful narrative reveals some of the stories and dramas of the ongoing Palestian and Israeli fight towards a peaceful coexistence.
MOVIE website-http://www.kino.com/ajami/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOW PLAYING in select USA theaters!!!
April 9, 2010
Montgomery Cinema (Belle Mead,NJ)
Clearview Bala Theater (Bala Cynwyd,PA)
PGA Gardens Cinamax (Palm Beach Gardens,FL)
Rialto Cinemas Lakeside (Santa Rosa,CA)
Regal Fox Tower Stadium 10 (Portland,OR)
Bear Tooth Theatre Pub (Anchorage,AK)
HELD OVER
West Newton Cinema (West Newton,MA)
Regal Delray Beach 18 (Delray Beach,FL)
Regal Shadowood 16 (Boca Raton,FL)
Chez Artiste (Denver,CO)
Harkins Camelview 5 (Scottsdale,AZ)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(DVD-BOX SET) Amos Gitai: Six Films From Israel will be Available Feb. 23, 2010 in the USA!
Publicity release
Kino International Releases
Amos Gitai: Six Films From Israel
Alila (2003)
Devarim (1995)
Kadosh (1999)
Kedma (2002)
Kippur (2000)
Yom Yom (1998)
New York, NY - December 29, 2009 - Kino International, a division of the recently formed Kino Lorber, is proud to release Amos Gitai: Six Films From Israel, an all-new box set containing six previously released fiction films directed by the legendary Israeli director. The films included in this box set are: Devarim (1995), Yom Yom (1998), Kadosh (1999), Kippur (2000), Kedma (2002), and Alila (2003).
Based in Israel, the United States and France, Gitai has produced an extraordinary, wide-ranging, and deeply personal body of work. In around 40 films, both in documentary and fiction form, Gitai has explored the layers of history in the Middle East and beyond, including his own personal history, through such themes as homeland and exile, religion, social control and utopia. His newest film, Carmel (2009), is also opening through Kino International in early 2010, after its US Premiere at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on January 13-18, 2010.
Kino's Amos Gitai: Six Films From Israel is set hit stores on February 23, 2010.
Israeli director Amos Gitai
Born in Haifa in 1950, Amos Gitai started his filmmaking career with a 8mm camera his mother gave him while he was serving during the Yom Kippur war in 1973. On October 11th of that same year, Gitai's helicopter was shot down by a Syrian missile, and one of his fellow troop members died in the crash. This traumatic experience inspired Gitai to quit architecture and start his filmmaking career.
In the late 70s and early 80s, Gitai directed numerous documentaries and received his PhD in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. After moving to Paris in 1983, Gitai relocated back to Haifa in 1993, beginning the most productive period of his career to date.
Over the 10 following years, Gitai made some 15 films, including the first film in his trilogy of Israeli cities, the feature Devarim (1995), shot in Tel Aviv. Yom Yom (1998), shot in Haifa, quickly followed, and Kadosh (1999), made in the Orthodox Jerusalem district, completed the trilogy. Kadosh starred famed Israeli actress Yael Abecassis.
Gitai's return to his home country was also an opportunity for an in-depth examination of his own history, and therefore, he directed Kippur in 2000, a critically acclaimed fictional recreation of his formative helicopter accident.
KEDMA is a powerful period drama about a group of European Jewish refugees who arrive at Palestine in the critical year of 1948. Carried on the deck of the freighter Kedma, they come ashore to find not the Promised Land of milk and honey, but a war-torn desert in the bloody throes of transformation into the state of Israel. And closing the box set is Alila (2003), an Altmanesque exploration of the lives of a half dozen residents of a run-down Tel-Aviv apartment building - also starring Yael Abecassis.
Gitai's work has been the subject of major retrospectives, notably at the Centre Pompidou (Paris), NFT and ICA (London), Lincoln Center (New York), Berlin's Kunstwerk, and cinematheques in Madrid, Jerusalem, Paris, São Paulo, Tokyo, and Toronto, among many other urban centers around the world.
DEVARIM
Devarim is Amos Gitai's debut narrative feature and the first installment in his renowned "City Trilogy" (concluded by 1998's Yom Yom and 1999's Kadosh), a remarkable trio of films each based in one of Israel's thriving metropolises. Making full use of a decade of documentary experience, Gitai transformed Ya'ackov Shabatai's audacious single-sentence cult novel "Zihron Devarim" into an intricate portrait of three disaffected Tel Aviv men and the city they call home.
Compulsive womanizer Cesar (Assi Dayan, the actor son of Israeli Defense Minster Moshe Dayan), inertia-bound pianist Israel (Amos Schub), and mamma's boy Goldman (Gitai) share friendship, fading youth and diminishing expectations. But when Goldman's father dies, their stagnant lives begin to transform. Israel is seduced by Ella, Cesar's lover and muse. Cesar clumsily reaches back into the relationship debris behind him in search of a meaningful connection. Goldman trades his suffocating family responsibilities for a wander through Tel Aviv's hot summer night. Whether paralyzed by self-doubt or giving in to self-indulgent hedonism, each man confronts a freedom they are not sure how to use.
Working for the first time with cinematographer Renato Berta, who often collaborated with Louis Malle and Jean-Luc Godard, Amos Gitai languorously chronicles the light, space and heat of Tel Aviv in sensuous long takes. Devarim's objective character detail and organically evolving narrative became the template for Gitai's subsequent City Trilogy films. A sharply drawn, moody portrait of Israel's "lost generation," Devarim seductively illustrates, as Cesar says, that in contemporary Tel Aviv, as in any modern city, "life's a bitch, but it's mesmerizing."
YOM YOM
In Yom Yom, the second film in Amos Gitai's (Devarim, Kadosh) celebrated "City Trilogy," Israel's preeminent writer-director works in the mixed nationality Mediterranean port city of Haifa. Featuring a top-flight ensemble cast, including multiple Israeli Academy Award® winner Moshe Ivgy (Munich) and stage legend (and 20s UFA child star) Hanna Meron (M), Yom Yom is a film of unusual wit, grace and insight.
In spite of blood ties to both Haifa's Jewish and Arab populations, Moshe (Ivgy) leads a rootless existence. Grown weary of his impatient wife Didi (Keren Mor) and ambivalent about his needy young mistress Grisha (Natali Atiya), the only relationships Moshe doesn't complicate are with his devoted parents, Jewish Hanna (Meron) and Arab Yussuf, and with Jules (Juliano Mer), Moshe's ne'r-do-well childhood friend.
But when Jules' real estate developer brother moves to buy a prized piece of property from the Arab side of the family, Moshe's divided ancestry is put to the test. Underneath its deadpan surface, Yom Yom is a film of incisiveness and energy that places an individual face on a city's divided identity, and reveals the heart beneath anonymous modern ennui.
KADOSH
A huge box office hit in Europe, acclaimed at film festivals in Cannes, Toronto, New Delhi and Tokyo, Kadosh is both a powerful drama and an impassioned feminist polemic. As religious fundamentalism achieves new political significance in many countries around the world, the questions at the heart of Gitai's compelling drama resonate far beyond the borders of Israel.
Here, for ten years, the pious Rivka (Yael Abecassis) has devoted herself to her husband Meir (Yoram Hattab), but their marriage remains childless. Presumed barren, she is rejected by her community, which prizes children above all else. The story that follows relates the harrowing fate of Rivka, and also here beloved sister Malka (Meital Barda), in love with a young man who has fled the community to lead a secular life.
KIPPUR
An official selection at the Cannes, New York and Toronto Film Festivals, Kippur focuses on the presence of the human spirit in battle. Despite its extreme graphic depiction of war, the film was recognized as a major cinematic breakthrough. Kippur is a gut-wrenching journey through beautiful landscapes ravaged by gunfire, exploding mines, fear and desolation.
The film takes place in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War, in which Egypt and Syria launched attacks in Sinai and the Golan Heights. Although the story is told from the perspective of Israeli soldiers, the film is far from being an exercise in propaganda. We are led by Weinraub (Liron Levo) and his friend Ruso (Tomer Ruso) on a day that begins with quiet city streets, but ends with death, destruction and devastation of both body and mind.
Although shot in long and unobtrusive takes, the film never reaches the realm of voyeurism. We are treated to a first-person experience, yet there exists a nagging sense of dislocation. Various scenes are awash in the surreal as Weinraub's head hangs out over a rescue helicopter's open door, watching with tranquil desperation as the earth passes beneath, the overpowering whir of the blades creating a hypnotic state.
It is not a traditional "blood, guts and glory" war film. There are no men in battle, only the rescue crews trying to pick up the broken pieces. Kippur is the shell-shocked memoir of the director Gitai, himself a participant in the conflict, and of the days that changed his life forever.
KEDMA
An Official Selection at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, Kedma is Amos Gitai's acclaimed film about the European Jewish refugees who arrived at Palestine in the year of 1948.
Rescued from a British army ambush at beachside by Palmach Jewish guerillas, the Kedma's ragged refugees are remade into soldiers expected to offer their lives to defend a nation that does not yet exist in a land they've never known. "Forget about the past if you want to survive" declares Rosa, a Russian Jew who endured Siberian imprisonment. With no common language and only the clothes on their backs, Rosa, Yiddish-speaking teenager Menachem, and Lodz ghetto escapee Janusz form a desperate fellowship as they follow their rescuers into battle. The chaos of a war for independence may be the only thing that can at last sever the ties that bind the Kedma's passengers to the tragic memories of a Europe they will likely never see again.
Kedma is both a journey to survival and a chronicle of rebirth. As Rosa and her fellow Europeans engage Arab resistance and elude British pursuit, they transform from exiles to insurgents and from Jews to Israelis. Directed by Gitai in a near documentary realist style, Kedma is an intimate epic.
ALILA
In Alila, director Amos Gitai examines the lives of a half dozen residents of a run-down Tel-Aviv apartment building. This Altmanesque panorama explores the loneliness and deep need for connection that exists behind the closed doors of those living on the margins.
For the apartment dwellers of Alila, every action creates a ripple unknowingly felt by all. Gorgeous libertine Gabi's (Yael Abecassis - Kadosh) loud, violent trysts with her physically dominant, emotionally unavailable lover Hezi (Amos Lavie) bring down the wrath of their disgusted neighbors.
Mali (Hanna Laslo), Gabi's sole confidante, reluctantly joins her neurotic ex-husband Ezra (Uri Klauzner) in his search for their army deserter son. Ezra's illegal construction site and undocumented immigrant workers in turn prompt the hermit Schwartz (Yosef Carmon) to relive the horrors of the Nazi death camps, as his Filipino companion Linda (Lyn Shiao Zamir) helplessly looks on. Ultimately, it is the reality behind the paranoid threats of shrill neighbor Ronit (Ronit Elkabetz) that provides a unity to the concentric circles of cause and effect passing through Alila's thin walls and thick skins.
Using a daring camera style made up of 40 individual single-shot scenes, Amos Gitai showcases his story's intertwining connections and his ensemble casts' extraordinary facility. Alila vividly reveals an Israeli metropolis of surprising diversity and finds inadvertent harmony in the dissonance of city life.
Kino International
Kino International Releases
Amos Gitai: Six Films From Israel
Alila (2003)
Devarim (1995)
Kadosh (1999)
Kedma (2002)
Kippur (2000)
Yom Yom (1998)
New York, NY - December 29, 2009 - Kino International, a division of the recently formed Kino Lorber, is proud to release Amos Gitai: Six Films From Israel, an all-new box set containing six previously released fiction films directed by the legendary Israeli director. The films included in this box set are: Devarim (1995), Yom Yom (1998), Kadosh (1999), Kippur (2000), Kedma (2002), and Alila (2003).
Based in Israel, the United States and France, Gitai has produced an extraordinary, wide-ranging, and deeply personal body of work. In around 40 films, both in documentary and fiction form, Gitai has explored the layers of history in the Middle East and beyond, including his own personal history, through such themes as homeland and exile, religion, social control and utopia. His newest film, Carmel (2009), is also opening through Kino International in early 2010, after its US Premiere at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on January 13-18, 2010.
Kino's Amos Gitai: Six Films From Israel is set hit stores on February 23, 2010.
Israeli director Amos Gitai
Born in Haifa in 1950, Amos Gitai started his filmmaking career with a 8mm camera his mother gave him while he was serving during the Yom Kippur war in 1973. On October 11th of that same year, Gitai's helicopter was shot down by a Syrian missile, and one of his fellow troop members died in the crash. This traumatic experience inspired Gitai to quit architecture and start his filmmaking career.
In the late 70s and early 80s, Gitai directed numerous documentaries and received his PhD in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. After moving to Paris in 1983, Gitai relocated back to Haifa in 1993, beginning the most productive period of his career to date.
Over the 10 following years, Gitai made some 15 films, including the first film in his trilogy of Israeli cities, the feature Devarim (1995), shot in Tel Aviv. Yom Yom (1998), shot in Haifa, quickly followed, and Kadosh (1999), made in the Orthodox Jerusalem district, completed the trilogy. Kadosh starred famed Israeli actress Yael Abecassis.
Gitai's return to his home country was also an opportunity for an in-depth examination of his own history, and therefore, he directed Kippur in 2000, a critically acclaimed fictional recreation of his formative helicopter accident.
KEDMA is a powerful period drama about a group of European Jewish refugees who arrive at Palestine in the critical year of 1948. Carried on the deck of the freighter Kedma, they come ashore to find not the Promised Land of milk and honey, but a war-torn desert in the bloody throes of transformation into the state of Israel. And closing the box set is Alila (2003), an Altmanesque exploration of the lives of a half dozen residents of a run-down Tel-Aviv apartment building - also starring Yael Abecassis.
Gitai's work has been the subject of major retrospectives, notably at the Centre Pompidou (Paris), NFT and ICA (London), Lincoln Center (New York), Berlin's Kunstwerk, and cinematheques in Madrid, Jerusalem, Paris, São Paulo, Tokyo, and Toronto, among many other urban centers around the world.
DEVARIM
Devarim is Amos Gitai's debut narrative feature and the first installment in his renowned "City Trilogy" (concluded by 1998's Yom Yom and 1999's Kadosh), a remarkable trio of films each based in one of Israel's thriving metropolises. Making full use of a decade of documentary experience, Gitai transformed Ya'ackov Shabatai's audacious single-sentence cult novel "Zihron Devarim" into an intricate portrait of three disaffected Tel Aviv men and the city they call home.
Compulsive womanizer Cesar (Assi Dayan, the actor son of Israeli Defense Minster Moshe Dayan), inertia-bound pianist Israel (Amos Schub), and mamma's boy Goldman (Gitai) share friendship, fading youth and diminishing expectations. But when Goldman's father dies, their stagnant lives begin to transform. Israel is seduced by Ella, Cesar's lover and muse. Cesar clumsily reaches back into the relationship debris behind him in search of a meaningful connection. Goldman trades his suffocating family responsibilities for a wander through Tel Aviv's hot summer night. Whether paralyzed by self-doubt or giving in to self-indulgent hedonism, each man confronts a freedom they are not sure how to use.
Working for the first time with cinematographer Renato Berta, who often collaborated with Louis Malle and Jean-Luc Godard, Amos Gitai languorously chronicles the light, space and heat of Tel Aviv in sensuous long takes. Devarim's objective character detail and organically evolving narrative became the template for Gitai's subsequent City Trilogy films. A sharply drawn, moody portrait of Israel's "lost generation," Devarim seductively illustrates, as Cesar says, that in contemporary Tel Aviv, as in any modern city, "life's a bitch, but it's mesmerizing."
YOM YOM
In Yom Yom, the second film in Amos Gitai's (Devarim, Kadosh) celebrated "City Trilogy," Israel's preeminent writer-director works in the mixed nationality Mediterranean port city of Haifa. Featuring a top-flight ensemble cast, including multiple Israeli Academy Award® winner Moshe Ivgy (Munich) and stage legend (and 20s UFA child star) Hanna Meron (M), Yom Yom is a film of unusual wit, grace and insight.
In spite of blood ties to both Haifa's Jewish and Arab populations, Moshe (Ivgy) leads a rootless existence. Grown weary of his impatient wife Didi (Keren Mor) and ambivalent about his needy young mistress Grisha (Natali Atiya), the only relationships Moshe doesn't complicate are with his devoted parents, Jewish Hanna (Meron) and Arab Yussuf, and with Jules (Juliano Mer), Moshe's ne'r-do-well childhood friend.
But when Jules' real estate developer brother moves to buy a prized piece of property from the Arab side of the family, Moshe's divided ancestry is put to the test. Underneath its deadpan surface, Yom Yom is a film of incisiveness and energy that places an individual face on a city's divided identity, and reveals the heart beneath anonymous modern ennui.
KADOSH
A huge box office hit in Europe, acclaimed at film festivals in Cannes, Toronto, New Delhi and Tokyo, Kadosh is both a powerful drama and an impassioned feminist polemic. As religious fundamentalism achieves new political significance in many countries around the world, the questions at the heart of Gitai's compelling drama resonate far beyond the borders of Israel.
Here, for ten years, the pious Rivka (Yael Abecassis) has devoted herself to her husband Meir (Yoram Hattab), but their marriage remains childless. Presumed barren, she is rejected by her community, which prizes children above all else. The story that follows relates the harrowing fate of Rivka, and also here beloved sister Malka (Meital Barda), in love with a young man who has fled the community to lead a secular life.
KIPPUR
An official selection at the Cannes, New York and Toronto Film Festivals, Kippur focuses on the presence of the human spirit in battle. Despite its extreme graphic depiction of war, the film was recognized as a major cinematic breakthrough. Kippur is a gut-wrenching journey through beautiful landscapes ravaged by gunfire, exploding mines, fear and desolation.
The film takes place in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War, in which Egypt and Syria launched attacks in Sinai and the Golan Heights. Although the story is told from the perspective of Israeli soldiers, the film is far from being an exercise in propaganda. We are led by Weinraub (Liron Levo) and his friend Ruso (Tomer Ruso) on a day that begins with quiet city streets, but ends with death, destruction and devastation of both body and mind.
Although shot in long and unobtrusive takes, the film never reaches the realm of voyeurism. We are treated to a first-person experience, yet there exists a nagging sense of dislocation. Various scenes are awash in the surreal as Weinraub's head hangs out over a rescue helicopter's open door, watching with tranquil desperation as the earth passes beneath, the overpowering whir of the blades creating a hypnotic state.
It is not a traditional "blood, guts and glory" war film. There are no men in battle, only the rescue crews trying to pick up the broken pieces. Kippur is the shell-shocked memoir of the director Gitai, himself a participant in the conflict, and of the days that changed his life forever.
KEDMA
An Official Selection at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, Kedma is Amos Gitai's acclaimed film about the European Jewish refugees who arrived at Palestine in the year of 1948.
Rescued from a British army ambush at beachside by Palmach Jewish guerillas, the Kedma's ragged refugees are remade into soldiers expected to offer their lives to defend a nation that does not yet exist in a land they've never known. "Forget about the past if you want to survive" declares Rosa, a Russian Jew who endured Siberian imprisonment. With no common language and only the clothes on their backs, Rosa, Yiddish-speaking teenager Menachem, and Lodz ghetto escapee Janusz form a desperate fellowship as they follow their rescuers into battle. The chaos of a war for independence may be the only thing that can at last sever the ties that bind the Kedma's passengers to the tragic memories of a Europe they will likely never see again.
Kedma is both a journey to survival and a chronicle of rebirth. As Rosa and her fellow Europeans engage Arab resistance and elude British pursuit, they transform from exiles to insurgents and from Jews to Israelis. Directed by Gitai in a near documentary realist style, Kedma is an intimate epic.
ALILA
In Alila, director Amos Gitai examines the lives of a half dozen residents of a run-down Tel-Aviv apartment building. This Altmanesque panorama explores the loneliness and deep need for connection that exists behind the closed doors of those living on the margins.
For the apartment dwellers of Alila, every action creates a ripple unknowingly felt by all. Gorgeous libertine Gabi's (Yael Abecassis - Kadosh) loud, violent trysts with her physically dominant, emotionally unavailable lover Hezi (Amos Lavie) bring down the wrath of their disgusted neighbors.
Mali (Hanna Laslo), Gabi's sole confidante, reluctantly joins her neurotic ex-husband Ezra (Uri Klauzner) in his search for their army deserter son. Ezra's illegal construction site and undocumented immigrant workers in turn prompt the hermit Schwartz (Yosef Carmon) to relive the horrors of the Nazi death camps, as his Filipino companion Linda (Lyn Shiao Zamir) helplessly looks on. Ultimately, it is the reality behind the paranoid threats of shrill neighbor Ronit (Ronit Elkabetz) that provides a unity to the concentric circles of cause and effect passing through Alila's thin walls and thick skins.
Using a daring camera style made up of 40 individual single-shot scenes, Amos Gitai showcases his story's intertwining connections and his ensemble casts' extraordinary facility. Alila vividly reveals an Israeli metropolis of surprising diversity and finds inadvertent harmony in the dissonance of city life.
Kino International
USA-Canada Co-production about a Palestinian family in America
AMREEKA
Written & directed by Cherien Dabis
[(2009)US-Canada/Nat.Geo.CineVentures/Rated PG-13] - (1 hr 36 min)
Logline: A drama centered on an immigrant single mother and her teenage son in small town Illinois. Adline: "Life's best adventures are journeys of the heart."
MOVIE website-http://www.amreeka.com/
Lynn Roth's THE LITTLE TRAITOR Opens Oct. 16 (NYC) & Nov. 13 (LA) [2009 USA release]
Press release
THE LITTLE TRAITOR
Opens October 16, 2009
The Little Traitor is adapted from the novel The Panther in the Basement, by renowned author Amos Oz. The feature opens in New York on October 16th and in Los Angeles on November 13th, distributed by Westchester Films Inc.
Short synopsis: The film stars Alfred Molina as a British sergeant and his mentor relationship with an 11 year old intelligently curious young Israeli boy. A touching tale of friendship, trust and betrayal during the last days of the British occupation of Palestine in 1947, just a few months before Israel becomes a state.
The Little Traitor won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, the Palm Beach International Film Festival and the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, among others.
Long synopsis: In The Little Traitor, Proffi Liebowitz (Ido Port) is a militant yet sensitive boy who wants nothing more than for the occupying British to leave his land. He and his two friends spend most of their time plotting ways to terrorize and/or blow up the British until one evening, while he's out after curfew, Proffi is seized by Sergeant Dunlop (Molina).
Instead of arresting him, the British officer deposits Proffi back home, and soon the foes become friends. Proffi, who is estranged from his own father, begins to see Dunlop as a parental figure. Dunlop, lonely and poetic, loves the spirited boy and they find lots to talk about in their meetings, which Proffi must keep a secret.
When Proffi's friends follow him one day and see that he has been visiting the detested enemy, they report him to the town officials and Proffi is brought to "trial" for being a traitor. He is eventually found innocent but these experiences shape him for life… especially the shock that he could have such genuine affection for the enemy.
The Little Traitor also stars Ido Port, Rami Heuberger, Gilya Stern and a cameo performance by international star Theodore Bikel.
The film is written and directed by Lynn Roth and produced by Eitan Evan & Lynn Roth.
The Little Traitor runs 89 minutes and is not rated.
Release Date: October 16th in New York
Distributor: Westchester Films Inc.
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NOW PLAYING in select USA theaters!!!
December 4, 2009
Movies of Delray (Delray Beach,FL)
Regal Delray Beach 18 (Delray Beach,FL)
Regal Shadowood 16 (Boca Raton,FL)
Sunrise Cinemas at Sunrise Eleven (Sunrise,FL)
HELD OVER
Malverne Cinema 4 (Malverne,NY)
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"The Stoning of Soraya M." gets female crix support & mixes guys??? (2009 release)
The Stoning of Soraya M.
[(2008)USA/2009 release/RoadsideAttr./Rated R] - (1 hr 56 min)
Synopsis: A drama set in 1986 Iran and centered on a man, Sahebjam (Caviezel), whose car breaks down in a remote village and enters into a conversation with Zahra (Aghdashloo), who relays to him the story about her niece, Soraya (Marnò), whose arranged marriage to an abusive tyrant had a tragic ending.
MOVIE website
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NOW PLAYING in select USA theaters!!!
November 6, 2009
Lincoln Theater (Mount Vernon,WA)
HELD OVER
Grand Cinemas Crossroads 6 (Tucson,AZ)
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Israel's Submission to the 82nd Academy Awards® to get a Feb. 3, 2010 USA release!!!
Press release
Kino to Open
Ajami (2009)
on February 3, 2010!
New York, NY - October 30, 2009 -Kino International is proud to announce the theatrical release of Ajami (2009), the acclaimed directorial debut of the Israeli-Palestinian filmmaking duo Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti. Ajami is set to open at New York's Film Forum and Lincoln Plaza on February 3, 2010, with a national rollout in March.
Winner of the Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing awards at this year's Israeli Film Academy ceremony (the Israeli Oscars), Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti's feature film debut had its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival in the Director's Fortnight program, where it received a special mention by the festival's Caméra d'Or jury.
Jaffa's Ajami neighborhood is a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians. Back and forth in time, and through the eyes of various characters, we witness the tragic fragility of human existence in an area where enemies often live side-by-side.
Thirteen-year-old Nasri (Fouad Habash) and his older brother Omar (Shahir Kabaha) face constant fear when their family becomes a target of assassination, after their uncle foolishly wounds a prominent clan member. At the same time, and not too far away, the young Palestinian refugee Malek (Ibrahim Frege) works illegally in Israel to finance his mother's life-saving surgery. An affluent Palestinian man who dreams of building a life with his Jewish girlfriend, and a Jewish cop obsessed with finding his missing brother round out this unique multi-character piece.
Directors Copti and Shani spent months auditioning locals (many of whom are from Jaffa's multi-ethnic Ajami neighborhood) and then, conducting extensive rehearsals with the cast. And cinematographer Boaz Yehonatan Yacov, who also lensed Kino's My Father, My Lord (2007), beautifully captured the spaces and street dynamics of this multi-faceted area of the world.
Since its debut on the film festival circuit, Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti's debut feature film has received strong reviews for its complex and powerful narrative, as well as for its authentic portrayal of life in Jaffa, a region in the south of Tel Aviv.
As of 2009, there are more than one million Arabs who live in (and are citizens of) Israel, and Ajami's powerful narrative reveals some of the stories and dramas of the ongoing Palestian and Israeli fight towards a peaceful coexistence.
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Kino to Open
Ajami (2009)
on February 3, 2010!
New York, NY - October 30, 2009 -Kino International is proud to announce the theatrical release of Ajami (2009), the acclaimed directorial debut of the Israeli-Palestinian filmmaking duo Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti. Ajami is set to open at New York's Film Forum and Lincoln Plaza on February 3, 2010, with a national rollout in March.
Winner of the Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing awards at this year's Israeli Film Academy ceremony (the Israeli Oscars), Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti's feature film debut had its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival in the Director's Fortnight program, where it received a special mention by the festival's Caméra d'Or jury.
Jaffa's Ajami neighborhood is a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians. Back and forth in time, and through the eyes of various characters, we witness the tragic fragility of human existence in an area where enemies often live side-by-side.
Thirteen-year-old Nasri (Fouad Habash) and his older brother Omar (Shahir Kabaha) face constant fear when their family becomes a target of assassination, after their uncle foolishly wounds a prominent clan member. At the same time, and not too far away, the young Palestinian refugee Malek (Ibrahim Frege) works illegally in Israel to finance his mother's life-saving surgery. An affluent Palestinian man who dreams of building a life with his Jewish girlfriend, and a Jewish cop obsessed with finding his missing brother round out this unique multi-character piece.
Directors Copti and Shani spent months auditioning locals (many of whom are from Jaffa's multi-ethnic Ajami neighborhood) and then, conducting extensive rehearsals with the cast. And cinematographer Boaz Yehonatan Yacov, who also lensed Kino's My Father, My Lord (2007), beautifully captured the spaces and street dynamics of this multi-faceted area of the world.
Since its debut on the film festival circuit, Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti's debut feature film has received strong reviews for its complex and powerful narrative, as well as for its authentic portrayal of life in Jaffa, a region in the south of Tel Aviv.
As of 2009, there are more than one million Arabs who live in (and are citizens of) Israel, and Ajami's powerful narrative reveals some of the stories and dramas of the ongoing Palestian and Israeli fight towards a peaceful coexistence.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Laila's Birthday" awaiting USA DVD date?
Press release
Kino Opens Rashid Masharawi's
Laila's Birthday (2008)
on May 27, 2009 in NYC
Director Rashid Masharawi
[(2008)Palestine-Tunisia-Netherlands/2009 USA release/Kino] - (1 hr 11 min)
Set in the filmmaker's hometown of Ramallah, Laila's Birthday follows a Palestinian judge-turned-taxi driver as he navigates the corruption, everyday hassles, constantly changing political winds, and pervasive Israeli checkpoints in and around the city. As he tries to arrange a birthday cake and gift for his young daughter's birthday, the regular chaos of Palestinian life takes him to surprising new destinations.
Director Rashid Masharawi is a major figure in the Palestinian film scene and has developed a body of work deeply invested in the figure of the refugee - from the first Intifada to the era of the Peace Process and onwards. His 1995 feature film Haifa is an engaging story about community life in a refugee camp. And the 2002 documentary Live from Palestine intelligently follows the editorial and production process of journalists working for the famed Voice of Palestine radio station.
Born in Gaza in 1962 to a family of refugees from Jaffa, Masharawi grew up in the Shati refugee camp; he now lives and works in Ramallah. There, Masharawi founded the Cinema Production and Distribution Center, a film initiative that promotes local productions and organizes a mobile film-screening program aimed at bringing high-quality cinema to Palestinian refugee camps. Masharawi also helps organize the annual Kids Film Festival in Ramallah as well as several local workshops on film production and directing.
MOVIE website-http://www.kino.com/lailasbirthday/index.html
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Kino Opens Rashid Masharawi's
Laila's Birthday (2008)
on May 27, 2009 in NYC
Director Rashid Masharawi
[(2008)Palestine-Tunisia-Netherlands/2009 USA release/Kino] - (1 hr 11 min)
Set in the filmmaker's hometown of Ramallah, Laila's Birthday follows a Palestinian judge-turned-taxi driver as he navigates the corruption, everyday hassles, constantly changing political winds, and pervasive Israeli checkpoints in and around the city. As he tries to arrange a birthday cake and gift for his young daughter's birthday, the regular chaos of Palestinian life takes him to surprising new destinations.
Director Rashid Masharawi is a major figure in the Palestinian film scene and has developed a body of work deeply invested in the figure of the refugee - from the first Intifada to the era of the Peace Process and onwards. His 1995 feature film Haifa is an engaging story about community life in a refugee camp. And the 2002 documentary Live from Palestine intelligently follows the editorial and production process of journalists working for the famed Voice of Palestine radio station.
Born in Gaza in 1962 to a family of refugees from Jaffa, Masharawi grew up in the Shati refugee camp; he now lives and works in Ramallah. There, Masharawi founded the Cinema Production and Distribution Center, a film initiative that promotes local productions and organizes a mobile film-screening program aimed at bringing high-quality cinema to Palestinian refugee camps. Masharawi also helps organize the annual Kids Film Festival in Ramallah as well as several local workshops on film production and directing.
MOVIE website-http://www.kino.com/lailasbirthday/index.html
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Full Schedule Announced for
OTHER ISRAEL FILM FESTIVAL
November 12 -19, 2009
Festival will take place at The Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Manhattan, 92STY Tribeca, and Cinema Village
Presented by The Israel Film Center at The JCC in Manhattan
Full program scheduling was announced today for The 3rd Annual Other Israel Film Festival, (www.OtherIsrael.org) dedicated to showcasing the lives of Arab citizens of Israel. The Festival will take place in New York City from November 12th – 19th and will run at JCC in Manhattan, 92STY Tribeca, Cinema Village, and other locations around the city. It is presented by The Israel Film Center at The JCC in Manhattan.
Now in its third year, Other Israel Film Festival explores the lives and challenges of the Arab minority in a Jewish defined state. The Festival celebrates the diversity of Israeli life with award-winning films and open discussions by and about the country’s Arab minority populations, (Christian, Muslim, Bedouin and Druze) which make up 20% of Israel’s population.
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.
“The goal of the Other Israel Film Festival is to promote tolerance,” said Festival founder Carole Zabar. “Film is a great vehicle for cultural understanding and social awareness and we are excited to continue our conversation and shine a light on a segment of Israel’s population that no one gets to see. I never imagined three years ago that the Other Israel Film Festival would be in the center of the Israeli film industry. We have just produced our first film “Zahara” by Mohammad Bakri and we are thrilled with the films that you will see at this year's festival.”
Many of the films presented by Other Israel Film Festival in the past two years went on to participate in festivals world-wide and several have received North American distribution.
“With the recent polarization of the social and political climate in Israel, the Other Israel Film Festival is more urgent than ever” added Festival Executive Director Isaac Zablocki. “In addition, we've noted a major rise in the quality and quantity of films on the topic of Palestinians in Israel. Clearly, these voices need to be heard.”
Tickets for the Other Israel Film Festival cost $11 and go on sale in October xx online at www.OtherIsrael.org or by phone 646-505-5708. The festival will feature several special directors' presentations and international sneak previews.
THE FILMS:
LAILA’S BIRTHDAY
Director: Rashid Masharawi
A comically existential fable about a day in the life of a former-judge-turned-taxi driver, on the day of his daughter Laila's seventh birthday. His only goal is to be home early with a present and a cake, but life takes him through many twists and turns before he gets home. His customers include a young Romeo who hires the taxi to have a place “alone” with his lover; a housewife who’ll stop anywhere there’s a free-food giveaway, armed Palestinian militia members, and an ex-convict who leaves his cell phone in the cab.
JAFFA
Director: Keren Yedaya
NYC PREMIERE In this Cannes Film Festival favorite, Director Keren Yedaya (Or) brings forth the dramatic story of Mali, who lives with her family in Jaffa, and works with her brother and father at the family owned car repair shop. Mali falls in love with Tauffik, a mechanic in the garage. Despite underlying racism and jealousy that surrounds them, their love affair grows. When Mali finds out she is pregnant, the couple decides to run away and get married abroad. On the morning of the flight, a tragic event reshapes this couple’s future.
VOICES FROM EL SAYED
Director: Oded Adomi Leshem
In the picturesque Israeli Negev desert, the Bedouin village of El-Sayed has the largest percentage of deaf people in the world. Through the generations, a unique sign language has evolved making it the most popular language in this rare society, which accepts deafness as natural as life itself. The village`s tranquility is interrupted by Salim`s decision to change his deaf son’s fate and make him a hearing person using the Cochlear Implant Operation.
ARAB LABOR
Director: Roni Ninio
More episodes from the successful groundbreaking satire, following Amjad, a 35-year-old Arab journalist, married to Bushara (a social worker) and father to Maya. Torn between his desire to become the darling of the In-crowd on one hand, and represent the suffering of Arabs at any given forum, he is mocked and criticized by his family and close community. 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.
ID BLUES
Director: Chaim Yavin
NY PREMIERE Two new episodes from the five-part travel-log by legendary news person Chaim Yavin, examining different sectors of Arabs living in Israel, presenting matters of life, history, and culture in Arab society in Israel.
SAYED KASHUA – FOREVER SACRED
Director: Dorit Zimbalist
SPECIAL DIRECTOR'S PRESENTATION Despite being one of Israel’s leading columnists, novelists and screenwriter, Sayed Kashua feels he doesn't belong. The Jews don't like him because he's an Arab. The Arabs don't like him because he's successful. The Arabs think he's a collaborator. The Jews think he's a drunk. He's always the "other" and he's always scared. This intimate portrait follows Kashua over seven years through the upheavals and events that change his life, wandering from place to place, from nation to nation, belonging neither here nor there.
ZAHARA
Director: Mohammad Bakri
SPECIAL DIRECTOR’S PRESENTATION With touching personal style and breathtaking cinematography, Director Mohammad Bakri tells the story of his 78 year old aunt Zahara, from the times of pre-state Palestine to present, leading the family with love and wisdom through the many trials of life.
SHORTS COMPILATION
HEAVY SILENCE
Visions and pieces of memory are unveiled through a small crack in Alla’s prison cell. Through these excerpts of memory and fantasy Alla faces the futility of family honor and discovers the fate of the woman he loves.
SHNAIM
In the midst of the war in Gaza, a mixed Arab and Jewish Israeli couple debate the question of military service.
Bus Station - IR-AMIM
Two women, Arab and Jew meet at a bus stop in Jerusalem after a trip to the market. When their bags of tomatoes get confused they begin to understand the similarities and differences of their worlds.
TEL AVIV-JAFFA
A look into one of the unifiers of Israeli Jewish and Arab society – Hummus. This short documentary part of the Tel Aviv-100 docu-challenge project follows one of Jaffa’s oldest and proudest establishments.
ORANGES
A sweet story of friendship and neighbors. A man is angered by his neighbor picking oranges off his tree and decides to seek revenge.
SAZ – The Palestinian Rapper for Change
Director: Gil Karni
NY PREMIERE An intimate documentary following budding Palestinian-Israeli hip-hop star from Ramlah, Sameh Zakout, a.k.a. Saz. The film follows his transformation from a young unknown rap singer into an international success, as well as his youthful quest for identity transformed into the voice of a struggling nation. The film also focuses on his relationship with his grandfather, an Israeli-Arab communist. Their conversations reveal their differing ideologies: “I don’t see my Palestine being built by blood,” says Saz. “It should be built by negotiations, not bombings. My bullets are my rhymes. My M-16 is my microphone.”
CITY OF BORDERS
Director: Yun Suh
In the heart of Jerusalem stands an unusual symbol of unity that defies generations of segregation, violence and prejudice: a gay bar called Shushan. This award-winning documentary goes inside this underground sanctuary where people of opposing nationalities, religions and sexual orientations create an island of peace in a land divided by war. Through a coclorful cast of characters from all walks of life, the film explores the effort to find and share a sense of community in spite of differences of religion and nationality.
BADAL
Director: Ibtisam Mara’na
NY PREMIERE 'A Badal deal marriage' is the common practice of a muslim tradition where a brother and sister from one family marry a sister and brother from another family - interlocking the two couples forever. Divorce on the part of one couple will immediately lead to the divorce of the other part of the deal. The film follows a family during the process of putting such a deal together. It portrays the lives of Palestinian women living within Israel, their difficulties and struggle to be a part of their traditional society vs. the quest to maintain their full rights as women, and citizens of a democratic state.
TELLING STRINGS
Director: Anne-Marie Haller
NY PREMIERE A rare look into the profound workings of the Jubran famiy, a Palestinian family of musicians from al-Rameh village in the northern Galilee. The Father, Elias, a musician and instructor has been building traditional string instruments such as ouds and bouzouqs in his al-Rameh workshop since 1965. The film connects the history of two generations and questions cultural identity between protest, resignation and hope.
THE INVISIBLE
Director: Gil Karni
SPECIAL DIRECTOR’S PRESENTATION A 12-year-long diary of the Bedouin village “Arab al-Na'im” in the Galillee and their struggle for their rights. The people of Arab al-Na’im have inhabited their land for the past 200 years, serve in the Israeli army, yet live in tin huts, without electricity or running water, and in constant struggle with the Israeli administration to be visible.
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
18 PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT – Photographer Natan Dvir
A photo-documentary project which examines contemporary visions of Arab society in Israel from a unique angle. 18 focuses on young Arab men and women at the pivotal age of 18 years old. This age is serves as a major divide in Israeli society as most citizens join the military, while most Arab citizens do not. The project includes a series of profiles of various individuals in Arab communities around Israel, including environmental portraits as well as documentation of their lives and close surrounding. Other Israel Film Festival had collaborated with the award winning Israeli photographer Natan Dvir to create and photograph this series of profiles. Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 3:30pm The JCC In Manhattan
SAZ – LIVE CONCERT A staple of the Palestinian hip hop scene, Sameh "SAZ" Zakout rhymes in Arabic, Hebrew and English and is widely hailed for his beatbox technique. Born and raised in Ramle, a predominantly Palestinian Arab city within Israel, SAZ has been featured in Rolling Stone and on CNN. His lyrics are very blunt and direct, and his songs deal with political, social and personal issues. Sunday, Nov. 13, 9:30pm The JCC in Manhattan General admission: $20
SESAME STREET The latest incarnation of Israel’s Sesame Street is directed by one of Israel’s top directors and focuses on building tolerance and understanding between Arab and Jewish children – including the first Arab Muppet “Mahbub”. The show was developed by Arabs, Jews and professionals from around the world to create a well balanced educational environment. Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 2:30pm The JCC In Manhattan
THE ART OF CHANGE Many artists in Israel are torn by their conflicted identity and their political integrity. Some are taking a stand and refusing to participate in certain Israeli productions in order not to create a situation of what they are calling “normalization”. Join us for an in-depth panel with artists who have to make tough choices in a complicated political climate. Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 3:30pm The JCC In Manhattan
HISTORY OF ARABS IN ISRAELI CINEMA Israeli cinema has a relatively short history. The visions of Arabs in Israeli cinema has been developing since the early days of cinema and play a major role in this young industry’s development. With a segment from a new documentary scanning the milestones of Arabs in Israeli cinema. Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 4:30pm The JCC In Manhattan
www.OtherIsrael.org
Other Israel Film Festival, a program of the Israel Film Center, announced a private film funding program for development, production, completion and distribution of films by and about Arab citizens of Israel. “Sayed Kashua”, “Zahara” and “Heavy Silence” were produced and completed with the support of this program.
Other Israel Film Festival had become a leader in the presentation and promotion of films by and about Arab citizens of Israel. As part of its ongoing support of these films,
Other Israel Film Festival is proud to announce its film funding program, encouraging creative cinematic work, bringing the other Israel to the big screen and to audiences throughout the world. The Funding Program is the outcome of an ongoing and dynamic conversation with numerous filmmakers; many of them presented their work at the Other Israel Film Festival in the past two years.
Another exciting project to be presented in the coming festival is 18 – A photo-documentary project which will examine contemporary issues in the Arab-Israeli society from a unique angle hoping to promote understanding and invite discussion. 18 will focus on young Arab men and women at a crucial point of their lives – turning18 years old. While graduating from school, being considered as adults, and having the right to vote, they are separated from Jewish young people of their age, not being able to join the army. The project will include a series of profiles of various individuals in Arab communities around Israel, including environmental portraits as well as documentation of their lives and close surrounding.
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OTHER ISRAEL FILM FESTIVAL
November 12 -19, 2009
Festival will take place at The Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Manhattan, 92STY Tribeca, and Cinema Village
Presented by The Israel Film Center at The JCC in Manhattan
Full program scheduling was announced today for The 3rd Annual Other Israel Film Festival, (www.OtherIsrael.org) dedicated to showcasing the lives of Arab citizens of Israel. The Festival will take place in New York City from November 12th – 19th and will run at JCC in Manhattan, 92STY Tribeca, Cinema Village, and other locations around the city. It is presented by The Israel Film Center at The JCC in Manhattan.
Now in its third year, Other Israel Film Festival explores the lives and challenges of the Arab minority in a Jewish defined state. The Festival celebrates the diversity of Israeli life with award-winning films and open discussions by and about the country’s Arab minority populations, (Christian, Muslim, Bedouin and Druze) which make up 20% of Israel’s population.
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.
“The goal of the Other Israel Film Festival is to promote tolerance,” said Festival founder Carole Zabar. “Film is a great vehicle for cultural understanding and social awareness and we are excited to continue our conversation and shine a light on a segment of Israel’s population that no one gets to see. I never imagined three years ago that the Other Israel Film Festival would be in the center of the Israeli film industry. We have just produced our first film “Zahara” by Mohammad Bakri and we are thrilled with the films that you will see at this year's festival.”
Many of the films presented by Other Israel Film Festival in the past two years went on to participate in festivals world-wide and several have received North American distribution.
“With the recent polarization of the social and political climate in Israel, the Other Israel Film Festival is more urgent than ever” added Festival Executive Director Isaac Zablocki. “In addition, we've noted a major rise in the quality and quantity of films on the topic of Palestinians in Israel. Clearly, these voices need to be heard.”
Tickets for the Other Israel Film Festival cost $11 and go on sale in October xx online at www.OtherIsrael.org or by phone 646-505-5708. The festival will feature several special directors' presentations and international sneak previews.
THE FILMS:
LAILA’S BIRTHDAY
Director: Rashid Masharawi
A comically existential fable about a day in the life of a former-judge-turned-taxi driver, on the day of his daughter Laila's seventh birthday. His only goal is to be home early with a present and a cake, but life takes him through many twists and turns before he gets home. His customers include a young Romeo who hires the taxi to have a place “alone” with his lover; a housewife who’ll stop anywhere there’s a free-food giveaway, armed Palestinian militia members, and an ex-convict who leaves his cell phone in the cab.
JAFFA
Director: Keren Yedaya
NYC PREMIERE In this Cannes Film Festival favorite, Director Keren Yedaya (Or) brings forth the dramatic story of Mali, who lives with her family in Jaffa, and works with her brother and father at the family owned car repair shop. Mali falls in love with Tauffik, a mechanic in the garage. Despite underlying racism and jealousy that surrounds them, their love affair grows. When Mali finds out she is pregnant, the couple decides to run away and get married abroad. On the morning of the flight, a tragic event reshapes this couple’s future.
VOICES FROM EL SAYED
Director: Oded Adomi Leshem
In the picturesque Israeli Negev desert, the Bedouin village of El-Sayed has the largest percentage of deaf people in the world. Through the generations, a unique sign language has evolved making it the most popular language in this rare society, which accepts deafness as natural as life itself. The village`s tranquility is interrupted by Salim`s decision to change his deaf son’s fate and make him a hearing person using the Cochlear Implant Operation.
ARAB LABOR
Director: Roni Ninio
More episodes from the successful groundbreaking satire, following Amjad, a 35-year-old Arab journalist, married to Bushara (a social worker) and father to Maya. Torn between his desire to become the darling of the In-crowd on one hand, and represent the suffering of Arabs at any given forum, he is mocked and criticized by his family and close community. 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.
ID BLUES
Director: Chaim Yavin
NY PREMIERE Two new episodes from the five-part travel-log by legendary news person Chaim Yavin, examining different sectors of Arabs living in Israel, presenting matters of life, history, and culture in Arab society in Israel.
SAYED KASHUA – FOREVER SACRED
Director: Dorit Zimbalist
SPECIAL DIRECTOR'S PRESENTATION Despite being one of Israel’s leading columnists, novelists and screenwriter, Sayed Kashua feels he doesn't belong. The Jews don't like him because he's an Arab. The Arabs don't like him because he's successful. The Arabs think he's a collaborator. The Jews think he's a drunk. He's always the "other" and he's always scared. This intimate portrait follows Kashua over seven years through the upheavals and events that change his life, wandering from place to place, from nation to nation, belonging neither here nor there.
ZAHARA
Director: Mohammad Bakri
SPECIAL DIRECTOR’S PRESENTATION With touching personal style and breathtaking cinematography, Director Mohammad Bakri tells the story of his 78 year old aunt Zahara, from the times of pre-state Palestine to present, leading the family with love and wisdom through the many trials of life.
SHORTS COMPILATION
HEAVY SILENCE
Visions and pieces of memory are unveiled through a small crack in Alla’s prison cell. Through these excerpts of memory and fantasy Alla faces the futility of family honor and discovers the fate of the woman he loves.
SHNAIM
In the midst of the war in Gaza, a mixed Arab and Jewish Israeli couple debate the question of military service.
Bus Station - IR-AMIM
Two women, Arab and Jew meet at a bus stop in Jerusalem after a trip to the market. When their bags of tomatoes get confused they begin to understand the similarities and differences of their worlds.
TEL AVIV-JAFFA
A look into one of the unifiers of Israeli Jewish and Arab society – Hummus. This short documentary part of the Tel Aviv-100 docu-challenge project follows one of Jaffa’s oldest and proudest establishments.
ORANGES
A sweet story of friendship and neighbors. A man is angered by his neighbor picking oranges off his tree and decides to seek revenge.
SAZ – The Palestinian Rapper for Change
Director: Gil Karni
NY PREMIERE An intimate documentary following budding Palestinian-Israeli hip-hop star from Ramlah, Sameh Zakout, a.k.a. Saz. The film follows his transformation from a young unknown rap singer into an international success, as well as his youthful quest for identity transformed into the voice of a struggling nation. The film also focuses on his relationship with his grandfather, an Israeli-Arab communist. Their conversations reveal their differing ideologies: “I don’t see my Palestine being built by blood,” says Saz. “It should be built by negotiations, not bombings. My bullets are my rhymes. My M-16 is my microphone.”
CITY OF BORDERS
Director: Yun Suh
In the heart of Jerusalem stands an unusual symbol of unity that defies generations of segregation, violence and prejudice: a gay bar called Shushan. This award-winning documentary goes inside this underground sanctuary where people of opposing nationalities, religions and sexual orientations create an island of peace in a land divided by war. Through a coclorful cast of characters from all walks of life, the film explores the effort to find and share a sense of community in spite of differences of religion and nationality.
BADAL
Director: Ibtisam Mara’na
NY PREMIERE 'A Badal deal marriage' is the common practice of a muslim tradition where a brother and sister from one family marry a sister and brother from another family - interlocking the two couples forever. Divorce on the part of one couple will immediately lead to the divorce of the other part of the deal. The film follows a family during the process of putting such a deal together. It portrays the lives of Palestinian women living within Israel, their difficulties and struggle to be a part of their traditional society vs. the quest to maintain their full rights as women, and citizens of a democratic state.
TELLING STRINGS
Director: Anne-Marie Haller
NY PREMIERE A rare look into the profound workings of the Jubran famiy, a Palestinian family of musicians from al-Rameh village in the northern Galilee. The Father, Elias, a musician and instructor has been building traditional string instruments such as ouds and bouzouqs in his al-Rameh workshop since 1965. The film connects the history of two generations and questions cultural identity between protest, resignation and hope.
THE INVISIBLE
Director: Gil Karni
SPECIAL DIRECTOR’S PRESENTATION A 12-year-long diary of the Bedouin village “Arab al-Na'im” in the Galillee and their struggle for their rights. The people of Arab al-Na’im have inhabited their land for the past 200 years, serve in the Israeli army, yet live in tin huts, without electricity or running water, and in constant struggle with the Israeli administration to be visible.
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
18 PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT – Photographer Natan Dvir
A photo-documentary project which examines contemporary visions of Arab society in Israel from a unique angle. 18 focuses on young Arab men and women at the pivotal age of 18 years old. This age is serves as a major divide in Israeli society as most citizens join the military, while most Arab citizens do not. The project includes a series of profiles of various individuals in Arab communities around Israel, including environmental portraits as well as documentation of their lives and close surrounding. Other Israel Film Festival had collaborated with the award winning Israeli photographer Natan Dvir to create and photograph this series of profiles. Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 3:30pm The JCC In Manhattan
SAZ – LIVE CONCERT A staple of the Palestinian hip hop scene, Sameh "SAZ" Zakout rhymes in Arabic, Hebrew and English and is widely hailed for his beatbox technique. Born and raised in Ramle, a predominantly Palestinian Arab city within Israel, SAZ has been featured in Rolling Stone and on CNN. His lyrics are very blunt and direct, and his songs deal with political, social and personal issues. Sunday, Nov. 13, 9:30pm The JCC in Manhattan General admission: $20
SESAME STREET The latest incarnation of Israel’s Sesame Street is directed by one of Israel’s top directors and focuses on building tolerance and understanding between Arab and Jewish children – including the first Arab Muppet “Mahbub”. The show was developed by Arabs, Jews and professionals from around the world to create a well balanced educational environment. Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 2:30pm The JCC In Manhattan
THE ART OF CHANGE Many artists in Israel are torn by their conflicted identity and their political integrity. Some are taking a stand and refusing to participate in certain Israeli productions in order not to create a situation of what they are calling “normalization”. Join us for an in-depth panel with artists who have to make tough choices in a complicated political climate. Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 3:30pm The JCC In Manhattan
HISTORY OF ARABS IN ISRAELI CINEMA Israeli cinema has a relatively short history. The visions of Arabs in Israeli cinema has been developing since the early days of cinema and play a major role in this young industry’s development. With a segment from a new documentary scanning the milestones of Arabs in Israeli cinema. Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 4:30pm The JCC In Manhattan
www.OtherIsrael.org
Other Israel Film Festival, a program of the Israel Film Center, announced a private film funding program for development, production, completion and distribution of films by and about Arab citizens of Israel. “Sayed Kashua”, “Zahara” and “Heavy Silence” were produced and completed with the support of this program.
Other Israel Film Festival had become a leader in the presentation and promotion of films by and about Arab citizens of Israel. As part of its ongoing support of these films,
Other Israel Film Festival is proud to announce its film funding program, encouraging creative cinematic work, bringing the other Israel to the big screen and to audiences throughout the world. The Funding Program is the outcome of an ongoing and dynamic conversation with numerous filmmakers; many of them presented their work at the Other Israel Film Festival in the past two years.
Another exciting project to be presented in the coming festival is 18 – A photo-documentary project which will examine contemporary issues in the Arab-Israeli society from a unique angle hoping to promote understanding and invite discussion. 18 will focus on young Arab men and women at a crucial point of their lives – turning18 years old. While graduating from school, being considered as adults, and having the right to vote, they are separated from Jewish young people of their age, not being able to join the army. The project will include a series of profiles of various individuals in Arab communities around Israel, including environmental portraits as well as documentation of their lives and close surrounding.
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