Exclusive: Patti Cake$ breakout star Macdonald on board Seville International Cannes sales title.
Seville International will launch pre-sales in Cannes on prestige drama Skin, a true story about the redemption of a Neo-Nazi that pairs Jamie Bell with Danielle Macdonald from Sundance breakout and Directors’ Fortnight entry Patti Cake$.
Guy Nattiv will direct the true story based on the life of Bryon ‘Pitbull’ Widner, a violent gang enforcer who is decorated in facial tattoos for committing hate crimes.
Skin will recount how Widner falls in love with a mother of three daughters outside the gang and turns his back on the gang, resulting in the arrest of its leaders.
As he embarks on his new life, the former gang member receives a $70,000 gift from a Holocaust survivor to pay for painful surgery to remove his facial tattoos.
Skin marks the fourth feature from Nattiv, whose The Flood (Mabul) won the Generation Kplus – Best Feature Film at the...
Seville International will launch pre-sales in Cannes on prestige drama Skin, a true story about the redemption of a Neo-Nazi that pairs Jamie Bell with Danielle Macdonald from Sundance breakout and Directors’ Fortnight entry Patti Cake$.
Guy Nattiv will direct the true story based on the life of Bryon ‘Pitbull’ Widner, a violent gang enforcer who is decorated in facial tattoos for committing hate crimes.
Skin will recount how Widner falls in love with a mother of three daughters outside the gang and turns his back on the gang, resulting in the arrest of its leaders.
As he embarks on his new life, the former gang member receives a $70,000 gift from a Holocaust survivor to pay for painful surgery to remove his facial tattoos.
Skin marks the fourth feature from Nattiv, whose The Flood (Mabul) won the Generation Kplus – Best Feature Film at the...
- 5/10/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Patti Cake$ breakout star Macdonald on board Seville International Cannes sales title.
Seville International will launch pre-sales in Cannes on prestige drama Skin, a true story about the redemption of a Neo-Nazi that pairs Jamie Bell with Danielle Macdonald from Sundance breakout and Directors’ Fortnight entry Patti Cake$.
Guy Nattiv will direct the true story based on the life of Bryon ‘Pitbull’ Widner, a violent gang enforcer who is decorated in facial tattoos for committing hate crimes.
Skin will recount how Widner falls in love with a mother of three daughters outside the gang and turns his back on the gang, resulting in the arrest of its leaders.
As he embarks on his new life, the former gang member receives a $70,000 gift from a Holocaust survivor to pay for painful surgery to remove his facial tattoos.
Skin marks the fourth feature from Nattiv, whose The Flood (Mabul) won the Generation Kplus – Best Feature Film at the...
Seville International will launch pre-sales in Cannes on prestige drama Skin, a true story about the redemption of a Neo-Nazi that pairs Jamie Bell with Danielle Macdonald from Sundance breakout and Directors’ Fortnight entry Patti Cake$.
Guy Nattiv will direct the true story based on the life of Bryon ‘Pitbull’ Widner, a violent gang enforcer who is decorated in facial tattoos for committing hate crimes.
Skin will recount how Widner falls in love with a mother of three daughters outside the gang and turns his back on the gang, resulting in the arrest of its leaders.
As he embarks on his new life, the former gang member receives a $70,000 gift from a Holocaust survivor to pay for painful surgery to remove his facial tattoos.
Skin marks the fourth feature from Nattiv, whose The Flood (Mabul) won the Generation Kplus – Best Feature Film at the...
- 5/10/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Patti Cake$ breakout Danielle Macdonald on board Seville International Cannes sales title.
Seville International will launch pre-sales in Cannes on prestige drama Skin, a true story about the redemption of a Neo-Nazi that pairs Jamie Bell with Danielle Macdonald from Sundance breakout and Directors’ Fortnight entry Patti Cake$.
Guy Nattiv will direct the true story based on the life of Bryon ‘Pitbull’ Widner, a violent gang enforcer who is decorated in facial tattoos for committing hate crimes.
Skin will recount how Widner falls in love with a mother of three daughters outside the gang and turns his back on the gang, resulting in the arrest of its leaders.
As he embarks on his new life, the former gang member receives a $70,000 gift from a Holocaust survivor to pay for painful surgery to remove his facial tattoos.
Skin marks the fourth feature from Nattiv, whose The Flood (Mabul) won the Generation Kplus – Best Feature Film at the...
Seville International will launch pre-sales in Cannes on prestige drama Skin, a true story about the redemption of a Neo-Nazi that pairs Jamie Bell with Danielle Macdonald from Sundance breakout and Directors’ Fortnight entry Patti Cake$.
Guy Nattiv will direct the true story based on the life of Bryon ‘Pitbull’ Widner, a violent gang enforcer who is decorated in facial tattoos for committing hate crimes.
Skin will recount how Widner falls in love with a mother of three daughters outside the gang and turns his back on the gang, resulting in the arrest of its leaders.
As he embarks on his new life, the former gang member receives a $70,000 gift from a Holocaust survivor to pay for painful surgery to remove his facial tattoos.
Skin marks the fourth feature from Nattiv, whose The Flood (Mabul) won the Generation Kplus – Best Feature Film at the...
- 5/10/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Washington Jewish Film Festival (Wjff) celebrates its 25th year with 11 days of dynamic film programming – accompanied by cultural and educational events – exploring the best of international cinema through a distinctly Jewish lens. February 19 through March 1, audiences will be treated to more than 100 screenings and related events across the Washington area. Hosted by the Washington Dcjcc, this year’s milestone festival features world, East Coast and mid-Atlantic premieres, an exciting roster of filmmaker and cast appearances, and an exquisitely curated line-up of screenings, festivities and other programs including 12 Wjff retrospective film screenings curated by former festival directors in honor of the 25th year.
“For 25 years, this festival has celebrated international cinema in building the single largest Jewish cultural event in Washington,” said Ilya Tovbis, Washington Jewish Film Festival director. “With our most ambitious festival to date, the 25th Wjff will honor a quarter-century of exhibiting the full diversity of the Jewish experience.”
A full festival schedule can be found at www.wjff.org. Highlights are included below.
Among the programs scheduled to take the festival beyond the screen are the 5th Annual Community Education Day on Arab Citizens of Israel, a day of in-depth exploration of the daily lives and challenges of Israel’s Arab population through a keynote address by the president of Al-Qasemi College of Engineering and Science, a panel discussion among Middle East experts, and the D.C. premiere of the film, Dancing Arabs, with its filmmaker Eran Riklis (Sunday, February 22, from 1:30-5 p.m. at the Dcjcc); a state of the cinema address on Israeli documentary film (Tuesday, February 24, at 7 p.m. at the Dcjcc); a pre-festival workshop led by leading Washington and New York film critics for a small group of Washington students; a short film student competition; and the third iteration of Two Jews Walk into a Bar, a cinematic bar event (Sunday, February 8, at 5 p.m.)
Opening Night Film: "Magic Men"
Opening Night will feature "Magic Men," in which a 78-year-old Greek-born atheist (Makram Khouri, Ophir-winner for Best Actor) and his estranged Hasidic rapper son travel from Israel to Greece searching for the magician who saved the father’s life during World War II. Their Adriatic road trip erupts into constant bickering but also has moments of affection, humor, and good will, as father and son reconnect during their adventure. The film is the latest feature from the directors of "Mabul," "A Matter of Size," and "Strangers." Opening Night will be held Thursday, February 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, and The Opening Night Party with Director Guy Nattiv will be held at the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza immediately following the screening.
Centerpiece Evening: "Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem"
Wjff’s Centerpiece Evening will take place at the AFI Silver Theatre on Saturday, February 21, at 7 p.m. and feature an extended Q&A session with Theodore Bikel, the unstoppable performer whose career spans more than 150 screen roles (including an Oscar-nominated turn in The Defiant Ones) and countless stage and musical productions. In "Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem," portraits of two beloved icons—Sholom Aleichem and Theodore Bikel—are woven together in an enchanting new documentary. The two men have much in common: wit, wisdom and talent, filled with deep humanity and Yiddishkeit. Theodore Bikel, now 90, Bikel has played Tevye the Milkman on stage more than 2,000 times, and has animated Aleichem's work through his two celebrated musical plays about the great Russian author. An additional screening will take place Monday, February 23, at 8:45 p.m. at the Washington Dcjcc.
Wjff Visionary Award: "Hester Street"
The Annual Wjff Visionary Award recognizes creativity and insight in presenting the full diversity of the Jewish experience through the moving image. The 2015 honorees are Carol Kane and Joan Micklin Silver. Carol Kane will be present at a screening of her Oscar-nominated performance in Silver’s humorous and poignant movie, "Hester Street," about a traditional Jewish woman (Carol Kane) who arrives with her son to America in the 1890s, only to discover that her cheating husband has assimilated and resents his wife’s old-fashioned ways. The Wjff Visionary Award will be presented Tuesday, February 24, at 7:15 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre.
Spotlight Evening: "East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem"
Israeli-Palestinian singer Mira Awad and songwriter Steve Earle will join legendary singer-songwriter David Broza for a 45-minute musical set and Q&A following a screening of "East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem" on Thursday, February 26, at 7 p.m. at Sidney Harman Hall of the Shakespeare Theater Company. In the film, Broza journeys to East Jerusalem to record his latest album with Israeli, Palestinian and American musicians.
Closing Night: "Mr. Kaplan"
The 25th Wjff will come to a close at the Dcjcc on March 1, at 7:30 p.m. with a screening of Uruguay’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, "Mr. Kaplan." In Uruguayan director Alvaro Brechner’s 2014 feature film, 76-year-old Jacob Kaplan, fed up with his community and his family’s lack of interest in its own heritage, becomes convinced that his German neighbor is a runaway Nazi and secretly takes on the role of a spy, but he is no match for the forces of age. This heartwarming comedy tells the truth of life that transcends time and ideology. The Closing Night Reception and Audience Award announcements follow the screening.
Additional Films of Note
Nominated for this year’s Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, the 2014 Israeli film "Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem," will be screened Wednesday, February 25, at 8:45 p.m. at the Avalon Theatre. Director Ronit Elkabetz tells the story of Amsalem, who is seeking a Jewish divorce from her estranged husband, who repeatedly refuses over the course of several years, leaving Amsalem locked in a seemingly unending battle created by the rules of Orthodox marriage in Israel. The film is Israel’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award and was the Israeli Film Academy’s 2014 Best Film.
The Hebrew language "The Farewell Party" is a dark comedy about a group of friends at a Jerusalem retirement home who build a machine for self-euthanasia to help a terminally ill friend – and then requests start coming in from more and more fellow retirement home residents interested in such a service. To be screened Saturday, February 28 at 7 p.m. at AFI Silver Theatre, and then again on Sunday, March 1, at 5:15 p.m. at the Dcjcc, the film won 2015 Ophir Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Actor.
"Next to Her," also in Hebrew with English subtitles, tells the arresting story of Chelli and her mentally disabled sister, whom she is raising by herself until required by a social worker to place her in a day-care center, only to then meet a man who leads to a relationship triangle between the three. The film was a critically acclaimed selection for the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. It will be screened Monday, February 23 at 7:15 p.m. at AFI Silver Theatre; Thursday, February 26 at 8:30 p.m. at the Katzen Arts Center at American University; and Saturday, February 28 at 6:45 p.m. at the Jcc of Greater Washington in Rockville.
Silent Films with Live Original Music: "Breaking Home Ties" and "The Golem"
On Monday, February 23, Wjff will screen the first of two silent films with live original music accompaniment. At 6:30 p.m. at the Dcjcc, pianist Donald Sosin and violinist Joseph Morag will accompany the 1922 silent film, "Breaking Home Ties." Then on Thursday, February 26 at 7:15 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre, Grammy-nominated Gary Lucas will present a reprisal of one of his most beloved original scores, the 1920 German silent horror-fantasy-expressionist film "The Golem," the tale of a 16th-century rabbi who made a man out of clay to save the Jewish community of Prague from annihilation.
Films with Local Ties/Themes
"The Rosenwald Schools"
On Wednesday, February 25, at 6:30 p.m., local filmmaker and former Washington Film Festival Director Aviva Kempner will be present for the world premiere of her new documentary at the Avalon Theater. The film tells the incredible story of how businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald joined with African-American communities in the South to build schools for the black community during the early part of the 20th century.
"My Favorite Neoconservative"
Raised in the Washington suburbs, the film’s director, Yael Luttwak watched inside the Beltway bigwigs walk the halls of her childhood home; her father, Edward Luttwak, is a prominent conservative military strategist who was the architect of the air campaign of the first Iraq war. The documentary reveals the personalities behind the headlines and tells a father-daughter story with a sardonic political twist. The film will be screened Sunday, March 1, at 3:15 p.m. at the Dcjcc.
Ticket Information
Patrons are encouraged to purchase tickets online. In addition to $12 single tickets, Wjff will be offering full festival passes for $125 and All Access VIP Passes for $225. More information is available at www.wjff.org and by calling 1-888-718-4253.
About the Washington Jewish Film Festival
The Washington Jewish Film Festival (Wjff) is the centerpiece of the Washington Dcjcc’s comprehensive year-round film program. One of the largest and most respected Jewish film festivals in North America, Wjff is an international exhibition of cinema that celebrates the diversity of Jewish history, culture and experience through the moving image.
The Wjff serves over 15,000 people annually through 80+ screenings, nearly all of which are world, U.S. or regional premieres.
Follow the Washington Jewish Film Festival on Twitter ( @wjff ) for updates with the latest information about the festival and filmmakers who will participate in the Wjff Lounge. Join the conversation using #wjff2015 on social media.
About the Washington Dcjcc
The Washington Dcjcc works to preserve and strengthen Jewish identity, heritage, tradition and values through a wide variety of social, cultural, recreational and educational programs and services. The Dcjcc is committed to welcoming everyone in the community; membership and all activities are open to all. The Dcjcc is a partner agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and a designated agency of the United Way. Follow on Twitter ( @16thstreetj ), like on Facebook , and find more information online at www.washingtondcjcc.org .
The Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts at the Dcjcc, of which the Wjff and the year-round film series are a part, presents fresh, pertinent and provocative Jewish voices that address issues both contemporary and universal. The Center is supported by a grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
“For 25 years, this festival has celebrated international cinema in building the single largest Jewish cultural event in Washington,” said Ilya Tovbis, Washington Jewish Film Festival director. “With our most ambitious festival to date, the 25th Wjff will honor a quarter-century of exhibiting the full diversity of the Jewish experience.”
A full festival schedule can be found at www.wjff.org. Highlights are included below.
Among the programs scheduled to take the festival beyond the screen are the 5th Annual Community Education Day on Arab Citizens of Israel, a day of in-depth exploration of the daily lives and challenges of Israel’s Arab population through a keynote address by the president of Al-Qasemi College of Engineering and Science, a panel discussion among Middle East experts, and the D.C. premiere of the film, Dancing Arabs, with its filmmaker Eran Riklis (Sunday, February 22, from 1:30-5 p.m. at the Dcjcc); a state of the cinema address on Israeli documentary film (Tuesday, February 24, at 7 p.m. at the Dcjcc); a pre-festival workshop led by leading Washington and New York film critics for a small group of Washington students; a short film student competition; and the third iteration of Two Jews Walk into a Bar, a cinematic bar event (Sunday, February 8, at 5 p.m.)
Opening Night Film: "Magic Men"
Opening Night will feature "Magic Men," in which a 78-year-old Greek-born atheist (Makram Khouri, Ophir-winner for Best Actor) and his estranged Hasidic rapper son travel from Israel to Greece searching for the magician who saved the father’s life during World War II. Their Adriatic road trip erupts into constant bickering but also has moments of affection, humor, and good will, as father and son reconnect during their adventure. The film is the latest feature from the directors of "Mabul," "A Matter of Size," and "Strangers." Opening Night will be held Thursday, February 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, and The Opening Night Party with Director Guy Nattiv will be held at the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza immediately following the screening.
Centerpiece Evening: "Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem"
Wjff’s Centerpiece Evening will take place at the AFI Silver Theatre on Saturday, February 21, at 7 p.m. and feature an extended Q&A session with Theodore Bikel, the unstoppable performer whose career spans more than 150 screen roles (including an Oscar-nominated turn in The Defiant Ones) and countless stage and musical productions. In "Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem," portraits of two beloved icons—Sholom Aleichem and Theodore Bikel—are woven together in an enchanting new documentary. The two men have much in common: wit, wisdom and talent, filled with deep humanity and Yiddishkeit. Theodore Bikel, now 90, Bikel has played Tevye the Milkman on stage more than 2,000 times, and has animated Aleichem's work through his two celebrated musical plays about the great Russian author. An additional screening will take place Monday, February 23, at 8:45 p.m. at the Washington Dcjcc.
Wjff Visionary Award: "Hester Street"
The Annual Wjff Visionary Award recognizes creativity and insight in presenting the full diversity of the Jewish experience through the moving image. The 2015 honorees are Carol Kane and Joan Micklin Silver. Carol Kane will be present at a screening of her Oscar-nominated performance in Silver’s humorous and poignant movie, "Hester Street," about a traditional Jewish woman (Carol Kane) who arrives with her son to America in the 1890s, only to discover that her cheating husband has assimilated and resents his wife’s old-fashioned ways. The Wjff Visionary Award will be presented Tuesday, February 24, at 7:15 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre.
Spotlight Evening: "East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem"
Israeli-Palestinian singer Mira Awad and songwriter Steve Earle will join legendary singer-songwriter David Broza for a 45-minute musical set and Q&A following a screening of "East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem" on Thursday, February 26, at 7 p.m. at Sidney Harman Hall of the Shakespeare Theater Company. In the film, Broza journeys to East Jerusalem to record his latest album with Israeli, Palestinian and American musicians.
Closing Night: "Mr. Kaplan"
The 25th Wjff will come to a close at the Dcjcc on March 1, at 7:30 p.m. with a screening of Uruguay’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, "Mr. Kaplan." In Uruguayan director Alvaro Brechner’s 2014 feature film, 76-year-old Jacob Kaplan, fed up with his community and his family’s lack of interest in its own heritage, becomes convinced that his German neighbor is a runaway Nazi and secretly takes on the role of a spy, but he is no match for the forces of age. This heartwarming comedy tells the truth of life that transcends time and ideology. The Closing Night Reception and Audience Award announcements follow the screening.
Additional Films of Note
Nominated for this year’s Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, the 2014 Israeli film "Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem," will be screened Wednesday, February 25, at 8:45 p.m. at the Avalon Theatre. Director Ronit Elkabetz tells the story of Amsalem, who is seeking a Jewish divorce from her estranged husband, who repeatedly refuses over the course of several years, leaving Amsalem locked in a seemingly unending battle created by the rules of Orthodox marriage in Israel. The film is Israel’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award and was the Israeli Film Academy’s 2014 Best Film.
The Hebrew language "The Farewell Party" is a dark comedy about a group of friends at a Jerusalem retirement home who build a machine for self-euthanasia to help a terminally ill friend – and then requests start coming in from more and more fellow retirement home residents interested in such a service. To be screened Saturday, February 28 at 7 p.m. at AFI Silver Theatre, and then again on Sunday, March 1, at 5:15 p.m. at the Dcjcc, the film won 2015 Ophir Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Actor.
"Next to Her," also in Hebrew with English subtitles, tells the arresting story of Chelli and her mentally disabled sister, whom she is raising by herself until required by a social worker to place her in a day-care center, only to then meet a man who leads to a relationship triangle between the three. The film was a critically acclaimed selection for the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. It will be screened Monday, February 23 at 7:15 p.m. at AFI Silver Theatre; Thursday, February 26 at 8:30 p.m. at the Katzen Arts Center at American University; and Saturday, February 28 at 6:45 p.m. at the Jcc of Greater Washington in Rockville.
Silent Films with Live Original Music: "Breaking Home Ties" and "The Golem"
On Monday, February 23, Wjff will screen the first of two silent films with live original music accompaniment. At 6:30 p.m. at the Dcjcc, pianist Donald Sosin and violinist Joseph Morag will accompany the 1922 silent film, "Breaking Home Ties." Then on Thursday, February 26 at 7:15 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre, Grammy-nominated Gary Lucas will present a reprisal of one of his most beloved original scores, the 1920 German silent horror-fantasy-expressionist film "The Golem," the tale of a 16th-century rabbi who made a man out of clay to save the Jewish community of Prague from annihilation.
Films with Local Ties/Themes
"The Rosenwald Schools"
On Wednesday, February 25, at 6:30 p.m., local filmmaker and former Washington Film Festival Director Aviva Kempner will be present for the world premiere of her new documentary at the Avalon Theater. The film tells the incredible story of how businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald joined with African-American communities in the South to build schools for the black community during the early part of the 20th century.
"My Favorite Neoconservative"
Raised in the Washington suburbs, the film’s director, Yael Luttwak watched inside the Beltway bigwigs walk the halls of her childhood home; her father, Edward Luttwak, is a prominent conservative military strategist who was the architect of the air campaign of the first Iraq war. The documentary reveals the personalities behind the headlines and tells a father-daughter story with a sardonic political twist. The film will be screened Sunday, March 1, at 3:15 p.m. at the Dcjcc.
Ticket Information
Patrons are encouraged to purchase tickets online. In addition to $12 single tickets, Wjff will be offering full festival passes for $125 and All Access VIP Passes for $225. More information is available at www.wjff.org and by calling 1-888-718-4253.
About the Washington Jewish Film Festival
The Washington Jewish Film Festival (Wjff) is the centerpiece of the Washington Dcjcc’s comprehensive year-round film program. One of the largest and most respected Jewish film festivals in North America, Wjff is an international exhibition of cinema that celebrates the diversity of Jewish history, culture and experience through the moving image.
The Wjff serves over 15,000 people annually through 80+ screenings, nearly all of which are world, U.S. or regional premieres.
Follow the Washington Jewish Film Festival on Twitter ( @wjff ) for updates with the latest information about the festival and filmmakers who will participate in the Wjff Lounge. Join the conversation using #wjff2015 on social media.
About the Washington Dcjcc
The Washington Dcjcc works to preserve and strengthen Jewish identity, heritage, tradition and values through a wide variety of social, cultural, recreational and educational programs and services. The Dcjcc is committed to welcoming everyone in the community; membership and all activities are open to all. The Dcjcc is a partner agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and a designated agency of the United Way. Follow on Twitter ( @16thstreetj ), like on Facebook , and find more information online at www.washingtondcjcc.org .
The Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts at the Dcjcc, of which the Wjff and the year-round film series are a part, presents fresh, pertinent and provocative Jewish voices that address issues both contemporary and universal. The Center is supported by a grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
- 1/24/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Twenty-eight world, U.S. and New York premieres are on tap for the 21st New York Jewish Film Festival, opening January 11 with the New York debut of Guy Nattiv's "Mabul" (The Flood). In all, 35 features and shorts from 11 countries will screen during the event, presented by the Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center at the Walter Reade Theater and Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center January 11 - 26. Closing out the festival will be the world premiere of Caroline Laskow and Ian Rosenberg's "Welcome to Kutsher's: The Last Catskills Resort," which focuses on the last surviving Jewish resort in the Catskills, in its heyday one of the legendary "Borscht Belt" hotels. Highlights from the 21st New York Jewish Film Festival with descriptions and information provided by the Film Society of Lincoln Center: [For a full lineup and more information, visit the Film Society of Lincoln Center's website.] Guy Nattiv's...
- 12/12/2011
- Indiewire
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, reportedly the oldest and largest Jewish film festival in the world announced their lineup. The 31st Sfjff is opening with the North American premiere of "Mabul," an Israeli family drama directed by Guy Nattiv, and will close with "100 Voices: A Journey Home," a documentary about a pilgrimage taken by 72 cantors to Poland to celebrate the legacy of their art form. Actor Kirk ...
- 6/23/2011
- Indiewire
In the past few months, there has been a handful of Israeli films that were released locally but took a plunge at the box office as of the opening weekend. Most critics warmly welcomed most films, but the audience didn't. The Israeli movie industry is puzzled as to the sudden change in taste on the part of its public. Perhaps the movies this year were rather good, but far from the artistic heights of Beaufort or Waltz with Bashir. Maybe it's because most films this year were adaptations of books, and the Israeli viewer is reluctant to see those on the screen (in previous years most Israeli films were written directly for the screen.; Maybe it's the concentration of too much Israeli releases in a relatively short time (usually, most Israeli releases are scheduled for the Summer season, aiming to profit from the media attention they get from screenings in...
- 12/13/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
This wasn't just a surprising ceremony. It was total humiliation. Intimate Grammar, Nir Bergman's moving story of a boy who mysteriously stops growing, was the favorite to win. Nominated for 12 awards, it was so highly favored to win that the printers were just waiting to complete the one sheet tagline, "Winner of Xx Ophir Awards." With a release date set exactly one day after the ceremony, this beautiful film didn't win a single award. Not even one. There's something fishy about why this went home empty-handed, since Bergman is very much appreciated in the industry, being involved in high profile projects in cinema (Broken Wings), and in television (In Treatment). However, the winner of this year's Ophir ceremony is the lovely crowd-pleaser The Mission of the Human Resources Manager, by director Eran Riklis. The story of a human resources manager in a bakery in Jerusalem, who sets out on...
- 9/23/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
The nominations for the Israeli Film Academy awards (The Ophirs) were announced this week and as expected, Nir Bergman's "Intimate Grammar" is at the top of the leader board with 12 nominations, but there are a few more surprises worth noting: Dover Kosashvili's "Infiltration" continues to divide audiences - his film was excluded from the final list of Best Picture nominees, but Kosashvili himself received a Best Director nomination, plus 5 other mentions for a surprising tally of six. Snapping up the Best Picture nom away from Kosashvili is "Mabul" (Flood) a surprise entry by first time director Guy Nativ. This film was warmly received by Academy members, but since this was a directing debut by Nativ, the 6 nominations (including best picture) are much more than what could have been expected. Moshe Ivgi's "And on the Third Day" is another film that divided academy members. None of them were indifferent to it,...
- 8/1/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
With nominations being announced tomorrow, here are a pair which I've yet to see, but who should nab some mentions. Nir Bergman's Intimate Grammar Eight years after his hugely successful drama Broken Wings, Nir Bergman return to feature filmmaking comes via the big screen adaptation of David Grossman's novel. It tells of a young boy in 1960's Israel, who's physical growth mysteriously comes to a sudden stop. Starring Orly Zilbershatz Banai (who also appeared in "Broken Wings" and in "Walking the dog", a TV mini-series Bergman directed in 2006), Evelyn Caplon, and a cast of unknowns. Most critics who've seen the film state that Intimate Grammar is a moving drama, with the last 20 minutes of the film elevating it to a masterpiece status. It won Best Picture in this year's Jerusalem Film Festival, and is likely to receive the biggest amount of nominations, making him the frontrunner for an award.
- 7/26/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
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