A great, participatory crowd was on hand Saturday night, February 16th, to watch and talk about the winner of Best Israeli Film at the DocAviv International Documentary Festival and one of the most popular films of our 2012 Festival, Tamar Tal’s Life in Stills! The story of Miriam and her grandson Ben is equal parts fascinating and heartwarming…the perfect complement to Limmud Chicago’s 2013 theme, Jewish Love.

LIFE IN STILLS  (Ha’Tzalmania)   הצלמניה

WATCH TRAILER

Documentary, 2011
Hebrew and German with English subtitles.
58 min.
Director: Tamar Tal

Best Israeli Film, Doc Aviv International Documentary Festival
Best Generations Category Award, Documentary Edge Film Festival, New Zealand
Student Jury Award, One World Human Rights Film Festival, Czech Republic
Extraordinary Documentary Talent, International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film
Best Debut Documentary, Docu Be’er Sheva

At the age of 96, Miriam Weissenstein never imagined that she would be facing a new chapter in her life. But when The Photo House, her late husband Rudi’s life’s work, was destined for demolition, even this opinionated and uncompromising woman knew she needed help. Under the cloud of a family tragedy, a special relationship is forged between Miriam and her grandson, Ben, as they join forces to save the shop and its nearly one million negatives that document Israel’s defining moments. Despite the generation gap and many conflicts, Ben and Miriam embark on a heart-wrenching journey, comprising many humorous and touching moments–a journey that requires a lot of love, courage, and compassion.

“Unique and moving. A great film.” – Ha’aretz

IN ADVANCE OF ITS COMMERCIAL RELEASE, we were very lucky–and proud–to present this long-anticipated film starring heartthrobs Ohad Knoller (the original Yossi and also Nati of Srugim fame), Oz Zahavi and Lior Ashkenazi (Walk on Water, Footnote), the amazing Israeli actress Orly Zilbershatz and more at the Center on Halsted and at the AMC Northbrook Court.

Yossi contains some adult content.

Yossi

(Sippur Shel Yossi)

WATCH TRAILER

Feature, 2011
In Hebrew with English subtitles.
86 min.
Director: Eytan Fox. With Ohad Knoller, Oz Zehavi, Lior Ashkenazi, Orly Silbershatz and Ola Schur-Selecktar.

Nominee, Best Narrative Feature, Tribeca Film Festival

Ten years after Yossi & Jagger, the tragic love story of two IDF officers serving in Lebanon, Eytan Fox returns to the story of Yossi (Ohad Knoller). He is now an esteemed cardiologist, but lives alone, still closeted, unable to break through the walls and defenses built around him since the death of his lover. Even his co-workers—a recently divorced doctor (Lior Ashkenazi of Footnote fame), who tries to sweep Yossi into his world of women and drugs, and a lonely nurse (Ola Schur-Selecktar of The World is Funny)—find it almost impossible to get close. His daily routine at the hospital is shaken up by the arrival of a mysterious woman (Orly Silbershatz). He follows her, and through a surprising connection, finds a rare opportunity to deal with his trauma. Traveling to Eilat. Yossi meets Tom, a handsome, self-confident and openly gay man, who represents a new world, different from the one that shaped Yossi.

Possibly (Eytan Fox’s) most accomplished work to date. –Indiewire

<a href=”http://israelifilmchi.files.wordpress.com/2011/08

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT “PINKWASHING”:

According to a group of activists in our community, efforts to use Israel’s progressive record on LGBTQ rights is a nefarious plot to divert attention away from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These activists have even come up with a catchy phrase to describe it: “pinkwashing.” For them, the only frame through which to see Israel is the conflict, a one-dimensional country cast as a colonial, racist oppressor worthy of the pariah status of Apartheid South Africa.

The fundamental problem with this rhetoric is that it takes two unrelated topics—Israel’s LGBTQ communities and their progress in the struggle for equality and inclusion, and the Israel-Palestinian conflict—and asserts that they are inextricably intertwined. This implies that learning about the former will somehow magically dull people’s ability to think about the latter.

Israel is a complicated, challenging, messy, inspiring, and exhilarating country. It is a land full of seeming contradictions that cannot be reduced to simplistic slogans. But one of the most remarkable things about Israel is that over the past twenty-five years there has been great progress in the area of LGBTQ rights, which has made it easier for gay people to lead open lives, create families and serve their country.

While it would be foolish to judge a country’s “advancement” solely on the rights of gays, it is a telling standard. The protection of minorities is a bedrock principle of any liberal society, and it is an indisputable fact that sexual, racial, and religious minorities are better off in Israel than they are anywhere else in the region.

This is not to suggest that Israel has become some kind of gay paradise: no country in the world qualifies for that title. It is still very hard to be gay in many parts of Israel, there are still many rights battles to be fought and won, and there have been some tragic incidents of anti-gay violence. But relative to most nations of the world, including Western nations, Israel is a good place to be gay.

All this is an inconvenient truth for those who want to demonize Israel, or turn every conversation about LGBTQ progress in Israel into an argument about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Doing so dishonors the courageous decades-long struggle of Israeli LGBTQ activists to transform Israeli society–through art and otherwise.

If you missed our hot night of salsa–the screening of the comedy Salsa Tel Aviv starring South of the Border sensation Angelica Vale, followed by a salsa dance party in Thorne Auditorium of  the Northwestern University Law School celebrating 60 years of Israeli-Mexican friendship–on Saturday, Oct. 27, then you had two more chances to see it–on Thurs., Nov. 1 and Sun., Nov. 4 at the AMC Northbrook Court.

[The Oct. 27th event was hosted by the Consulates of Israel and Mexico, the Petach Tikva and Mexico City Committees of Chicago Sister Cities International, the AJC, Alliance of Latinos & Jews, the Jewish Community Relations Council and Club 1948. Music by DJ Frankie. Salsa dance instruction was by Molly Siegel and Arthur Russki. Mexi-raeli treats were provided by Garden Fresh Market.] The Thursday, Nov. 1st screening was hosted by Pintel Financial.

About Salsa Tel Aviv

Feature, 2011
In Hebrew and Spanish with English subtitles.
100 min.
Director: Jorge Weller. With Angélica Vale, Angel Bonani, Angélica María and Hilla Vidor.

Best Comedy, Jewish Omaha Film Festival
Official Selection, Jerusalem and Guadalajara International Film Festivals; Moscow Israeli Film Festival; UK, Toronto, Washington and Sao Paulo Jewish Film Festivals

Salsa Tel Aviv is a musical romantic comedy alive with comic twists and sensuality. It centers on Vicky (Angélica Vale), a talented Mexican salsa dancer and single mom who disguises herself as a nun to journey to Israel in pursuit of her ex-husband and father of her young son. On the plane she meets Yoni, a young Israeli biologist, who is on his way back to Israel to marry his rich girlfriend, Dafna. Vicki and Yoni are from completely different worlds. Almost everything divides them­­—religion, culture, social class—yet despite everything, they slowly develop a close relationship.

Chicago Festival Of Israeli Cinema 2012 Trailer from Oceanbear Productions on Vimeo.

This amazing, award-winning doc by Dani Menkin and Yonatan Nir film screened on Opening Night at the Shedd Aquarium, and on Tues., Oct. 30 at 4 p.m. and on our CLOSING NIGHT at the AMC Northbrook Court, 1525 Lake Cook Road in Northbrook IL at 8:30 p.m.!

The event at Chicago’s famous Shedd Aquarium on OPENING NIGHT, October 23, was spectacular. Admission included a post-screening party and private tour of the Shedd’s popular Jellies exhibit.

About The Film

Documentary, 2011.
In Hebrew, Arabic and English with English subtitles.
72 min.

Directors: Dani Menkin and Yonatan Nir

Winner, First Prize in Antibes Underwater Film Festival
Winner, Special Jury Mention Awards, Woodstock International Film Festival
Winner, Special Jury Mention Awards at the Jerusalem International Film Festival

Morad, a socially-popular, athletic teenager from Kalansua, an Arab village in the north of Israel, disconnects himself from humans following a violent attack by his peers after mistakenly being accused of having an affair with an engaged woman. As a last resort before hospitalization in a mental institution, he is taken by his devoted father to Dr. Ilan Kutz, one of Israel’s leading post-trauma specialists. Dr. Kutz recommends dolphin therapy in Eilat. Morad starts speaking again after months of silence, but he erases his past and refuses to go home to his awaiting mother. This amazing documentary, about the devastating havoc that human violence can wreak upon the human soul, and about the healing powers of nature and of love, was filmed over the course of four years.

Yoni wasn’t only the brother of the current Israeli prime minister, or the only Israeli soldier killed July 4, 1976, at the raid on Entebbe. He was a U.S- educated scholar, husband, lover, poet,  leader. This documentary reveals a complete measure of the man, in his own words, and through the eyes of those who knew him best.

About Follow Me:

Documentary, 2012
English and Hebrew with English subtitles.
84 min.

Directors: Jonathan Gruber and Ari Daniel Pinchot

On July 4, 1976, Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, 30, brother of the current prime minister of Israel, led a daring rescue of hostages, the Raid of Entebbe, at Uganda’s Entebbe Airport. Terrorist groups had hijacked an Air France plane with 248 passengers aboard. The Jewish passengers were held hostage while the hijackers demanded the release of convicted terrorists from Israeli prisons. The Israelis were given 48 hours to respond, and did, with a daring mission that took less than an hour to execute. All but two hostages were rescued and all Israeli soldiers survived except for Yoni, whose heroism and dedication were celebrated throughout the world. The film draws on Yoni’s own words (which described the conflicts he felt about being a soldier and his passionate devotion to Israel) on interviews with his family, his ex-wife, the woman he was living with at the time of his death; and archival footage that shows us his gallantry and spirit.

Oct. 30th screening was hosted by Israel Bonds. The Nov. 3 screening was hosted by FIDF.

Imagine being asked by a pre-Nobel Prize-winning Albert Einstein to design an observatory as one of your first projects. That’s just what happened to German-Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn in this artistically stunning documentary by Duki Dror. World renowned architect Stanley Tigerman introduced the film and spoke afterwards at a very special evening at Spertus Institute, Oct. 24. A dessert reception followed.

Nov. 1 screening hosted by Chiasso.

About Incessant Visions

Documentary, 2011
In Hebrew, English and German with English subtitles.
71 min.
Director: Duki Dror

Honorable Mention, Jerusalem International Film Festival
Opening Night Film, Berlin Jewish Film Festival
Official selection, Amsterdam, Vancouver, St. Louis, New York and San Francisco Jewish Film Festivals

He drew sketches on tiny pieces of paper and sent them, from the trenches of WWI, to a young cellist, who was waiting for him in Berlin. She thought he was a genius, and after the war, introduced him to Einstein and helped him become the busiest architect in Germany. When she planned to leave him for Leftist poet Ernst Toller, he built a perfect house for her, entirely planned by him–from the lake view living room, to the silverware and her evening gowns. When the Nazis came to power, they escaped the house and Germany forever, wandering between England, Israel, and the United States. Through letters exchanged with his wife Louise, the film explores Mendelsohn’s rise as an architectural visionary, his friendship with Frank Lloyd Wright, and the jagged trajectory of his career.

We learned more about Poles with hidden Jewish identities at this year’s Fest, from Ronit Kertsner’s acclaimed doc Torn on Sunday, October 28, 1 p.m., and in a DOUBLE FEATURE, Torn with its prequel, Ronit Kertsner’s The Secret, on Wednesday, October 31 at 4 p.m. The must-see drama: Ami Drozd’s My Australia, Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 4 at 6 p.m.

More About Each Film

TORN  (Karuah)   קרוע

Documentary, 2011
In Hebrew, English and Polish with English subtitles.
72 min.

Director: Ronit Kertsner.

Nominee, Best Feature Length Documentary, Israeli Documentary Forum
Official Selection, Docaviv International Film Festival, Verzio International Human Rights Festival, FilmIsrael! Holland Film Festival; Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Portland and Atlanta Jewish Film Festivals

Can one be a Catholic priest and an observant Jew at the same time? Twelve years after he was ordained as a Polish Catholic priest, Romuald Waszkinel discovers that he was born to Jewish parents, and that his name was Jacob Weksler. The film follows his amazing journey from conducting mass in a church in Poland to life as an observant Jew in a religious kibbutz in Israel. Romuald is torn between two identities, between being Romuald Waszkinel or Jacob Weksler. He is unable to renounce either, and therefore is rejected by both religions. He is required to choose.

THE SECRET (HaSod)  הסוד

Documentary, 2001
In Hebrew, English and Polish with English subtitles.
52 min.

Directed by Ronit Kertsner.

The CFIC usually only screens Israeli films made in the previous 12 months, but we made an exception here, because The Secret by Ronit Kertsner, sheds light on her 2011 work, Torn. Through accidental discovery or deathbed confessions, many Catholic Polish citizens have made an unsettling discovery: they were born Jewish. These “new Jews” must decide what this new truth means to them, as Poles and as Jews. Officials estimate an astounding 20,000 such cases in Poland alone. The personal stories unfold in the context of Polish-Jewish history and as a direct legacy of the Holocaust. According to Kertsner, the film is, more broadly, an exploration of identity and family, issues often confounding for adopted children.

The Chicago Premiere of
MY AUSTRALIA (Ostralia Sheli)  אוסטרליה שלי

Feature, 2012
Hebrew and Polish with English subtitles.
96 min.

Directed by Ami Drozd. With Jakub Wroblewski, Lukasz Sikora and Aleksandra Poplawska.

Audience Choice Award, Jerusalem Film Festival
Silver Phoenix Award, Warsaw International Film Festival
Special Jury Award, New York Polish Film Festival

Poland, mid 1960′s. A single mom in a poor neighborhood, Halina, spends most of her time working to provide the basic needs for her two sons, Tadek, 10 and Andrzej,14. Left to their own devices, the boys join a neighborhood gang with a strong neo-Nazi orientation. One day the gang enters a Jewish neighborhood, beats and stabs some youngsters, and is arrested by the police. Halina succeeds in convincing authorities to release her sons, but is shocked to learn about their involvement with neo-Nazis. She had always thought that she was protecting the boys by concealing her past and raising them as Catholics, but now she must tell them the truth: she is not only Jewish, but a Holocaust survivor. She takes Andrzej into her confidence, but Tadek is told that they are immigrating to Australia. The truth is that they are boarding a ship to Israel. The film explores the struggle to form an identity and build a new life in a new country.

“A joy to watch.” — Toronto Film Scene

After three successful seasons on Israeli television, creators Laizy Shapira and Chava Divon decided that their tale of Modern Orthodox singles would become, “extremist, ridiculous, and uninteresting” should it continue. There are millions of people around the planet (including secular and haredi Jews) who would disagree.

SRUGIM   סרוגים
TV Show, Season 3, Episodes 1-3
Hebrew with English subtitles
114 min. (38 min. per episode)

Director: Laizy Shapiro. With Ohad Knoller, Yael Sharoni, Tali Sharon, Amos Tamam and Sharon Fauster.

The beginning of the third and final season! Even if you hadn’t seen (or been obsessed by) it yet, you didn’t want to miss the CFIC’s most recent offerings from this group of observant Friends–a graphic designer, an accountant, a biblical studies major, a grammar teacher, and a doctor—living in the vibrant Katamon section of Jerusalem. The show featured the struggles that some of the characters have being religious while trying to date, find love and make a living. Each of the three women and two men was so telegenic and engaging, no prior Srugim background was required.

TORN, Ronit Kerstner’s documentary about Polish priest, Romuald Waszkinel, who discovers mid-life that his Jewish mother had given him to Catholic neighbors to save his life. THE SECRET, Kerstner’s prequel to Torn, about Poland’s 20,000 “New Jews” discovering their Holocaust ancestry. MY AUSTRALIA, Ami Drozd’s 1960′s period drama about a Polish survivor who hides her Jewish identity from her young sons until just before they move to Israel. INCESSANT VISIONS, Duki Dror’s beautiful doc about Bauhaus-era German-Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn and his wife Louise, friends of Einstein, forced to flee their home at the start of the Third Reich. Dina Zvi-Riklis’ THE FIFTH HEAVEN, the story of young girls and staff of an orphanage in 1944 Palestine. And LOST LOVE DIARIES Yasmine Novak’s touching doc about Ellis, a Dutch-Israeli Jew, who searches for clues about her missing boyfriend Bernie 65 years after she receives his diary.