The AICE Israeli Film Festival remains a great showcase for Israeli films, and there were some outstanding films in this festival. It offered a slice of the identities and powerful passions that complicated the image of simply an “Israeli” festival, and demonstrated that there is more than just the politics of the Middle East that drives filmmakers to comment on these issues. The spectre of protests in Sydney was disappointing; in many cases, Palestinian advocates would gain a lot of sympathy, understanding, and new awareness from encouraging people to see these critical Israeli films.
Read MoreFestival Films
Reviews of films shown as part of specific film festivals, or as a special event. Many are already available on DVD, Blu-ray, and other formats.
The Green Prince (2014)
Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a founding member of the terrorist organisation Hamas, was recruited by Israeli internal security force Shin Bet to spy on his father and infiltrate terrorist organisations. The Green Prince, as he was called, is transformed into one of Israel’s most sensitive and effective sources of information – but at great risk to Yousef and his family. Told through complimentary interviews with Yousef and his handler Gonen Ben Yitzhak, the story they recount borders on the unbelievable.
Read MoreHora 79 (2013)
A chance meeting between old friends leads to the revival of the Israeli folk dancing group Hora 79 for one last performance. But after 33 years the dancers are past their prime and still stuck in old conflicts, loves, resentments, and jealousies. Reunited, these long dead feelings rise to the fore and the members must contend against them, as well as a rival manager who wants to see them removed from the festival, and an old director who represents the epitome of folk dancing evil.
Read MoreKidon (2013)
A team of would-be spies work to outwit the Israeli government, the French ambassador, the Russian scientific attaché, the representatives of Oman, the Iranian secret service, and a host of other international interests in their attempt to secure $100 million in diamonds for the stolen laptop of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh. Led by talented con-man Daniel, the team are picked up by Mossad and interrogated for their role in the assassination of Al-Mabhouh. What follows is a game of cat and mouse, and the respective players try to get at the truth while forwarding their interests.
Read MoreAlbum 61 (2013)
Boris Gelfand, Israeli chess Grandmaster, has a shot at defeating World Champion Viswanathan Anand in a gruelling twelve games played over one month in Kazan, Russia. Album 61 follows Gelfand and his extensive team during that month; but also documents the story of Boris’ father, who devoted himself to the success of his son. Gelfand makes startling progress – drawing most of the matches and pulling off one unexpected victory. Anand is on the ropes, but still a World Champion; and the tense showdown has everyone on the edge of their seats.
Read MoreLet’s Assume, For a Moment, That God Exists (2013)
Israeli filmmaker Ram Loevy documents the every-day life of his hometown of Ramat Gan, a city of Tel Aviv, and the stories of colourful locals. We meet an Iraqi barber whose father was barber to the King of Iraq, a quite amazing Russian accordion player who has a quote for every customer, a Jewish dollar store owner with a love for Arabic poetry, and several nostalgic ex-Soviets. People pass by, talking on their cell phones, and a poor parking inspector wangles with the general indifference of the locals.
Read MoreA Strange Course of Events (2013)
Estranged son Shaul decides on a whim to return to Haifa, and to visit a father he has not seen in many years. Possibly in the grip of depression, Shaul is supprised to find his father, Simon, taking yoga classes and engaging in other new age practices. The reason is Simon’s new girlfriend, Bati, who owns a crystal healing store and moderates his temper. The arrival of Shaul’s eight-year-old daughter, Michal, and her affection for Bati and Simon further complicates matters for alienated Shaul.
Read MoreAnita B (2014)
Wow, this is a terrible film. Anita B follows a Hungarian girl recently released from Auschwitz into the custody of her only living relative, her aunt Monica. Anita’s remaining family live in a small town outside Prague in communist Czechoslovakia, where Jews aren’t made terribly welcome. Anita initially resists then pursues a relationship with her cousin by law; spurning local Jew David, who decamps to Israel. So many more stupid, melodramatic events happen that I can’t fit them all in here.
Read MoreThe Second Son (2014)
Talented Eyad is selected to attend the most prestigious school in Israel; a notable achievement, as he is one of Israel’s 1.4 million Arab citizens. While his adjustment is initially tough, he quickly finds a group of friends and builds a strong relationship with disabled Jonathan. Things fall apart with his requited love for Jewish student Naomi, who must keep their relationship secret. The inevitable revelation of their love, particularly to her parents, threatens to tear all apart.
Read MoreThe Kindergarten Teacher (2014)
Nira is a kindergarten teacher and lover of poetry who becomes convinced that her five-year-old charge, Yoav, is a boy genius and Mozart of contemporary poetry. Acquiring the poems as her own, she seeks out professional opinion which validates their worth; but she must entangle herself more and more inappropriately in Yoav’s life to ensure that none of his flashes of inspiration are lost. It rapidly becomes clear that she is unsure how far she will take this intervention, leading to tragic results.
Read MoreSelf Made; Boreg (2014)
Jewish conceptual artist Michal awakes with no memory of what the day ahead holds, or the meaning of her work. She must survive based on the cues and strange occurrences that make up her day; including a missing screw, something she had surgically removed and sent to the Venice Biennale, and a magazine interview. Nadine awakes within an Arab community and commutes to her job within Israel; fired for a missing screw. Something strange and surreal connects these two women as their day progresses and escalates.
Read MoreMr. Kaplan (2014)
Entering his dotage, Jacob Kaplan worries that he has not met the special purpose in life that his family assured him he would have. A Jewish man who fled Poland for Uruguay in 1942, surviving his family, he has had a moderately successful life in his new home with his loving family. But discovering an elderly German man operating a kiosk at a local beach, Jacob becomes suspicious – enlisting the help of hang-dog ex-cop Wilson Contreras to uncover a man he suspects is a Nazi.
Read MoreNext to Her (2014)
Chelli works as an assistant at a local school, and cares for her mentally disabled sister Gabby. It is a gruelling existence, and Chelli must resort to putting Gabby in a half-day care home in order to fulfil her day to day duties. Not expecting much, Chelli attracts the interest of substitute teacher Zohar, and the two embark on a tentative relationship. While initially trying to hide the difficulties of caring for Gabby, Chelli is gradually encouraged to let Zohar into her life.
Read MoreThe Art Dealer; L’Antiquaire (2014)
The Jewish wife of an art dealer begins a quest to research the history of her grandfather’s paintings, and their possible misappropriation by the Nazis during the Second World War. What she discovers is even more unsettling, uncovering collaboration, conspiracy, and old criminal acts within the heart of her wealthy family. A dangerous game is then played, within which she supposedly risks her life to find out the truth.
Read MoreThe Dune; La Dune (2013)
Hanoch is the owner of a bicycle repair shop and possible chess prodigy, uninterested in much more than playing with his older friend Fogel. He goes in search of a man from his past, Reuven, who is himself a police officer and case worker for missing persons. What passed between them many years ago, and why Hanoch is reluctant to approach him is a mystery – which, through coincidence, Reuven is sent to unravel.
Read MoreHeart of a Lion; Leijonasydän (2013)
Recently released neo-Nazi Teppo struggles to find a job, instead finding waitress Sair. Initially seduced by Teppo, Sari becomes horrified by his affiliations and refuses to see him again. This is not to last, as Teppo pursues her doggedly – overcoming his feelings to bond with her mixed race son Rhamadhani. But all is not well with Teppo’s former friends, and his own integration into step-fatherhood does not go smoothly.
Read MoreAugust Fools; Mieletön elokuu (2013)
Set in 1960s Finland, August Fools features old lovers Jan (from Czechoslovakia) and Elsa (from Finland) stuck on different sides of the Iron Curtain. When a student communist festival offers jazz musician Jan an opportunity to travel toHelsinki and reunite with Elsa, he jumps at the chance and plans to defect to the West along the way. However, milliner and part-time clairvoyant Elsa is not so sure; risking the comfortable, bourgeois life she has built for herself.
Read MorePioneer (2013)
The ridiculous thriller pioneer follows Petter – a Norwegian deep sea diver, and part of an experimental team to lay pipelines at extreme depths. Set at the beginning of the Norwegian oil boom in the 1980s, Petter quickly finds himself at the centre of a cover-up after a dive gone wrong; and is quickly enmeshed in a conspiracy involving billions of dollars and several suspicious deaths.
Read MoreViolette (2013)
Loosely following the biography of French author Violette Leduc, this gripping drama charts her rise from selling produce on the WWII black market to acclaimed First Wave feminist icon and writer. Intersecting with the lives of luminaries such as Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Genet, Violette’s development as a writer is overshadowed by the figure of her mother and her indeterminate sexuality, in a culture that was only beginning to liberate itself from the scars of conflict and oppression.
Read MoreHome; Hemma (2013)
Isolated and awkward Lou discovers her grandmother Frida is still alive, and decides to stay with her following the death of her grandfather. Staying in the small Swedish village that Frida calls home is more eventful than expected, as she is courted by local Henrik, and joins in helping old-beyond-his-years local kid Tom find out what he is good at.
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