Friday | 22.11.24

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10am
10:30
Course: The Teacher Who Promised the Sea
4pm
16:00
The Wild Robot
5pm
17:00
Emilia Pérez | Theatrical Release
6pm
18:15
Black Narcissus
8pm
20:00
Emilia Pérez | Theatrical Release
20:30
Pulp Fiction
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Monthly Screenings

Out Looking In: Israel in the Eyes of Foreign Directors

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Out Looking In: Israel in the Eyes of Foreign Directors

From the Lumière brothers to Chantal Akerman, Alexander Ford, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Otto Preminger to Claude Lanzmann, Chris Marker and Susan Sontag, the "Israeli Project" has fascinated and inspired many foreign filmmakers. The utopia of the Zionist project, like the war experience that shaped the country, pushed them to visit the land and shoot their impressions. For some, this journey was a means of examining their Jewish identity or reflecting on the nature of the memory of the Holocaust and the connection between Israel and the Diaspora (Lanzmann, Akerman). For others, it was a way of confronting the Western conception of Israel with the intricacies that characterize it, beyond the many myths and clichés that are often associated with it (Marker, Pasolini).

Opening remarks (in Heb.): Ariel Schweitzer

Description of a Struggle

Dir.: Chris Marker
| 60 minutes

Chris Marker was invited by Wim and Lia van Leer in the early 1960s to create a documentary about Israel, examining in a remarkable way the establishment of the Jewish state. 

Lives of Jews in Palestine: 1913

Lives of Jews in Palestine: 1913

Dir.: Noah Sokolovsky
| 60 minutes

An extraordinary look at the pioneers of the First and Second Aliyah in Palestine. The film was screened with much success in Europe on the eve of WWI, but disappeared without a trace after the war, and discovered by chance in Paris in 1997. 
Speaker (in Heb.): Dr. Ohad Landesman

Films Lumière en Palestine

Dir.: Alexandre Promio

The first moving pictures shot in Palestine by Alexandre Promio, who was sent to the region by the Lumière Brothers. The short scenes focus on the holy sites, the desert, and Jaffa, and even include some of the first traveling images in cinema.

sabra

Sabra

Dir.: Aleksander Ford
| 62 minutes

A group of pioneers attempt to establish a settlement in a deserted area. Tribulation, suffering and fever accompany their efforts. The Arab neighbors do not welcome the settlement. The lack of water and a bad-hearted sheikh lead to a violent conflict.

cast a giant shadow

Cast a Giant Shadow

Dir.: Melville Shavelson
| 129 minutes

Kirk Douglas plays a Jewish-American war hero that is recruited by the State of Israel to establish its army in the days leading to the War of Independence. An impressive cinematic saga, with guest appearances by Frank Sinatra and John Wayne.

Juggler

The Juggler

Dir.: Edward Dmytryk

Hans, a famous juggler and Holocaust survivor who immigrates to Israel, is baffled by the serene environment. As past trauma continues to haunt him, Hans will have to face the truth. 

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Exodus

Dir.: Otto Preminger
| 208 minutes

1947. Ari Ben-Canaan, a young and charismatic Hagana commander, guides a shipload of illegal immigrants to the shores of Palestine. The Hollywood epic by Otto Preminger starring Paul Newman.

Promised Lands

Promised Lands

Dir.: Susan Sontag
| 87 minutes

Post the Yom Kippur War, Susan Sontag and a small crew arrived in Israel and filmed scenes of daily life in the much divided country. Sontag builds a mosaic of associatively connected images, presenting the mental, physical, and political landscape of a complex and contrasting place.

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Israel, Why

Dir.: Claude Lanzmann
| 190 minutes

Claude Lanzmann’s (Shoah) film from 1972 is a riveting panorama of Israel between the Six Day and Yom Kippur Wars. Traveling the country, Lanzmann is particularly impressed by its young society. 

Down There

Down There

Dir.: Chantal Akerman
| 78 minutes

In 2005, Chantal Akerman arrived in Tel Aviv with her camera. For a month, she films neighboring windows from her apartment, and reads excerpts aloud from her journal including notes on Judaism, film, and her family. 

Sopralluoghi in Palestina

Sopralluoghi in Palestina

Dir.: Pier Paolo Pasolini
| 55 minutes

In 1963, while searching for a location for his The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, Pasolini made his way to the Holy Land. The raw materials were quickly edited into a film that was to be used to explain the project.