Unfolding in a compact and extraordinarily compelling 82 minutes, “Blue Box” is a brave, authoritatively documented account of how the Jewish National Fund (Jnf) acquired land in Palestine before and after the creation of the State of Israel. Helmer Michal Weits uses the primary source par excellence: the diaries and papers of her great-grandfather, Yosef Weitz, to argue that from today’s perspective, some of the methods used seem morally questionable. Offering a stark contrast to the popular Israeli national myth of “a land without a people for a people without a land,” this multi-layered documentary will inspire much debate and deserves wide distribution.
Little-known outside of Israel, Yosef Weitz, a longtime Jnf Director of Lands and Afforestation, is celebrated there as the father of Israel’s forests. But in her research, Weits discovers a less, er, pine-scented, side of his work in establishing the Jewish state, a side never mentioned in her family’s lore.
Little-known outside of Israel, Yosef Weitz, a longtime Jnf Director of Lands and Afforestation, is celebrated there as the father of Israel’s forests. But in her research, Weits discovers a less, er, pine-scented, side of his work in establishing the Jewish state, a side never mentioned in her family’s lore.
- 5/5/2021
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Other winners include Venice title Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me and documentary Rabin In His Own Words.
Elad Keidan’s debut feature Afterthought (Hayored Lemaala) was crowned Best Israeli Film at this year’s Haifa Film Festival (Sept 26-Oct 5).
London-based Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf presided over the jury that included Karlovy Vary artistic director Karel Och, MoMA’s former cinema curator Laurence Kardish, Israeli cinematographer-director-actress Yvonne Miklosh and director Julie Schlez.
Screened earlier this year in Cannes’ Special Screenings section, the film is a metaphor of Israel today, focusing on two characters, one going up and the other down the staircases crisscrossing Haifa’s Mount Carmel and was entirely shot on location in the city.
Back from Venice’s Horizons section, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me (Lama Azavtani), a gloomy portrait of a city slum and of a teenager living on the fringes of society who desperately tries to find his own identity, gained director...
Elad Keidan’s debut feature Afterthought (Hayored Lemaala) was crowned Best Israeli Film at this year’s Haifa Film Festival (Sept 26-Oct 5).
London-based Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf presided over the jury that included Karlovy Vary artistic director Karel Och, MoMA’s former cinema curator Laurence Kardish, Israeli cinematographer-director-actress Yvonne Miklosh and director Julie Schlez.
Screened earlier this year in Cannes’ Special Screenings section, the film is a metaphor of Israel today, focusing on two characters, one going up and the other down the staircases crisscrossing Haifa’s Mount Carmel and was entirely shot on location in the city.
Back from Venice’s Horizons section, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me (Lama Azavtani), a gloomy portrait of a city slum and of a teenager living on the fringes of society who desperately tries to find his own identity, gained director...
- 10/5/2015
- by dfainaru@netvision.net.il (Edna Fainaru)
- ScreenDaily
With a new director, the Jewish International Film Festival has launched its 2012 program to screen across Sydney and Melbourne. Included in the line up is Australia’s Dead Europe by Tony Krawitz; Roman Polanski – A Film Memoir by Laurent Bouzereau and Yolande Zauberman’s Would You Have Sex with an Arab?
The festival runs from 1 – 18 November at Bondi Junction’s Event Cinemas and from 7 – 25 November at Melbourne’s Classic Cinemas in Elsternwick.
The announcement:
Under the guidance of a new Director, the Jewish International Film Festival is set for the most electrifying season in its 23-year history when it screens in Sydney and Melbourne this November.
Drawing on his extensive exhibition and distribution experience, Festival Director, Eddie Tamir has assembled a brilliant line-up of 34 features and documentaries from 14 countries, which will challenge, inform and entertain audiences from within and beyond the Jewish community.
Said, Tamir, “I’m delighted to build...
The festival runs from 1 – 18 November at Bondi Junction’s Event Cinemas and from 7 – 25 November at Melbourne’s Classic Cinemas in Elsternwick.
The announcement:
Under the guidance of a new Director, the Jewish International Film Festival is set for the most electrifying season in its 23-year history when it screens in Sydney and Melbourne this November.
Drawing on his extensive exhibition and distribution experience, Festival Director, Eddie Tamir has assembled a brilliant line-up of 34 features and documentaries from 14 countries, which will challenge, inform and entertain audiences from within and beyond the Jewish community.
Said, Tamir, “I’m delighted to build...
- 10/5/2012
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
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