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| Dancing Arabs opens the Israeli Film Fest on June 4. |
This year’s festival might doesn’t feature a repeat appearance from Patrick Stewart, but it does include four Ottawa premieres of acclaimed and award-winning Israeli films. The festival opens with the drama Dancing Arabs by Eran Riklis, the acclaimed director of Lemon Tree, The Syrian Bride, and Zaytoun. Dancing Arabs comes to Ottawa after screening at a range of International festivals including Locarno and Telluride. Variety’s Jay Weissberg called it Riklis’s best film in years, while Boyd Van Hoeji of The HollywoodReporter gives top marks to the performances, ideas of cultural identity and historical legacy, and range of flawed characters who confront their own place in the world.
Other films screening at this year’s
Israeli Film Fest include the Apples from the Desert starring
Reymonde Amsellam from The Attack,
Lebanon, and Rendition, and The
Dove Flyer, which is based on the book by Eli Amir. Doc fans will want
to catch Above and Beyond, which is the first-ever doc about pilots who
came to Israel from abroad to fight in the War of Independence. The film’s been earning some strong reviews
on the circuit with Sheri Linden of the LA Times calling it “indispensable.” It’s probably a safe bet for the
fest, since the lone doc Farewell, Herr Schwartz easily holds the title of “best of the fest” for last year.
The line-up for the 2015 Israeli Film Festival
is as follows
Dancing Arabs
Dir. Eran Riklis | Israel | 2014 | 105 min
Thursday, June 4, 2015, 7:00 pm
Synopsis: A Palestinian-Israeli boy named Eyad is sent to a prestigious
boarding school in Jerusalem, where he struggles with issues of language,
culture, and identity.
Apples from the Desert
Sunday, June 7, 2015, 7:00 pm
Synopsis: Rebecca Abarnabel, a single daughter born into an Orthodox Jewish
family, is tired of the lifestyle that her father, Reuven, has forced upon her.
She and her mother, Victoria, go on a life-changing journey between worlds.
Above and Beyond
Dir. Roberta Grossman | Israel/U.S.A | 2015 | 90 min
Thursday, June 11, 2015, 7:00 pm,
Synopsis:
In 1948, a group of World War II pilots volunteered
to fight for Israel in the War of Independence. As members of 'Machal' --
volunteers from abroad -- this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide
of the war, preventing the possible annihilation of Israel at the very moment
of its birth; they also laid the groundwork for the Israeli Air Force. Above and Beyond is their story.
The Dove Flyer
Dir. Nissim Dayan | Israel | 2014 | 108 min
Sunday, June 14, 2015, 7:00 pm,
Synopsis: Based on a novel by Eli Amir, Dove
tells the story of one of the most ancient Jewish community in the world: the
Jewish community of Iraq. Most of the Iraqi Jews living in Baghdad in the 1950s
did not want to leave the land where they and their ancestors had lived for
thousands of years. Against this background, the coming-of-age tale of 16 year
old Kabi is told. Kabi and his family face an uncertain future, as do all Jews
living in Baghdad. Each member of Kabi’s circle has a different dream: his
mother wants to return to the Muslim quarter where she felt safer; his father
wants to emigrate to young state of Israel; Salim, his headmaster, wants Arabs
and Jews to be equal, and Abu just wants to care for his adored doves.
The Israeli Film Festival runs June 4-14, 2015.
All screenings and events are located in the River Building Theatre, Carleton
University.
(Friendly
reminder that there's free
parking across the street at Brewer Park!)
Please visit the CFI’s
website for the full LAFF line-up, plus information on showtimes, tickets,
and memberships.
