OPENING NIGHT FILM

October 29, 2009 at 7:00 pm | AMC Loews 600 N Michigan

SHIVA - THE SEVEN DAYS (2008)

Feature Film / 3 Screenings | In Hebrew, French and Arabic with English subtitles Running Time: 108 minutes

Thursday, Oct. 29 | 7:00 pm | AMC Loews 600 North Michigan SOLD OUT
Tuesday, Nov. 3 | 5:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre SOLD OUT
Sunday, Nov. 8 | 8:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre SOLD OUT (Co-hosted by Pintel Financial)

2008 ISRAELI FILM ACADEMY (THE OPHIR AWARDS)
Winner - Best Supporting Actress Evelin Hagoel, Best Cinematography

2008 JERUSALEM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The Wolgin Award - Best Full-Length Feature Film, Best Actress Hana Azoulay-Hasfari

Boasting an impressive cast of some of Israel's most lauded actors, acclaimed Israeli actress Ronit Elkabetz teams up with her brother Shlomi Elkabetz to direct a fascinating portrait of a Moroccan Jewish family as they gather to mourn the sudden death of their brother. It is 1991, in the midst of the first Gulf War, and Israel is under daily missile attacks. But in the Ohayon family, tragedy has hit in more mundane circumstances as beloved Maurice, one of nine brothers and sisters, has suddenly died. The family gathers for the traditional seven days of mourning (shiva) in which they are not allowed to leave the house. The intensity of this situation is a catalyst for more than just emotional support and communal grief. Jealousy, gossip, long-term rivalry and financial problems come to the forefront, as each of the siblings is faced with his and her frustrated ambitions. SHIVA - THE SEVEN DAYS conveys the complexity of family life in a way that cannot but invite filmgoers to contemplate their own. The all-star cast includes Ronit Ellkabetz, Keren Mor, Yael Abecassis, Hana Azoulay-Hasfari, Hanna Laszlo, Moshe Ivgy and Alon Abutbul.

Directed and Written by Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew with English and French subtitles.

A TOUCH AWAY (2007)
TV Series / 2 Screenings (8 episodes)

In Hebrew, Russian and Yiddish with English subtitles Running Time: each episode 35 minutes

Monday, Nov. 2 | 6:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre/ Episodes 1 - 4
Tuesday, Nov. 3 | 6:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre/ Episodes 5 - 8
Wednesday, Nov. 4 | 8:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre/ Episodes 1 - 4
Thursday, Nov. 5 | 8:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre/ Episodes 5 - 8

2007 ISRAELI FILM ACADEMY AWARDS (THE OPHIR AWARDS) Best Directing, Best Script, Best Actor, Best Art Design, Best Original Score
2008 Washington Jewish Film Festival, Special Audience Recognition Award

Film festival-goers around the world are hooked on A TOUCH AWAY, Israel's most popular TV series, a slice of contemporary Tel Aviv life spun into a marvelous multifamily drama, leaving audiences wanting more. Focused on two families whose lives fatefully intersect in an apartment complex in the Orthodox neighborhood B'nai Brak. The ultra-Orthodox Bermans' daughter is entering into an arranged marriage. Sparks fly when a newly arrived secular family from Russia, including actress Marina (Evgenia Dodina) and her handsome son Zorik (Henri David), move in across the hall. The eight episodes realistically reflect ongoing social challenges facing today's increasingly diverse Israeli society.

Directed by Ron Ninio. Created by Zafrir Kochanovsky, Ronit Weiss-Berkowitz, Ron Ninio.

BLESSED IS THE MATCH - THE LIFE AND DEATH OF HANNAH SENESH (2008)
Documentary Feature / 1 Screening

In English                                                                        Running Time: 85 minutes

Sunday, Nov. 8 | 5:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre SOLD OUT

2008 Crystal Heart Award - Heartland Film Festival
2008 Audience Award Best Documentary - Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival; Washington Jewish Film Festival
2009 Audience Award Best Documentary: New Jersey Jewish Film Festival; Seattle Jewish Film Festival; Houston Jewish Film Festival; Pittsburgh Jewish Israeli Film Festival; Denver Jewish Film Festival; San Diego Jewish Film Festival; Tucson Jewish Film Festival; Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
2009 Best Documentary - Garden State Film Festival

Narrated by award-winning actress Joan Allen, BLESSED IS THE MATCH is the first documentary feature about Hannah Senesh, the World War II era poet and diarist who became a paratrooper, resistance fighter and modern-day Joan of Arc. Safe in Palestine in 1944, Hannah joined a mission to rescue Jews in her native Hungary. She parachuted behind enemy lines, and was captured, tortured and ultimately executed by the Nazis. Her mother Catherine witnessed the entire ordeal - first as a prisoner with Hannah and later as her advocate, braving bombed-out Budapest in a desperate attempt to save her daughter.  The story of a unique girl who came of age in a world descending into madness.

Directed by Roberta Grossman. Written by Sophie Sartain.

Click here for the trailer in English.

BRURIAH (2008)
Feature Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew with English subtitles   
Running Time: 90 minutes / Some sexual content

Thursday, Nov. 5 | 6:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre

Hadar Galron stars as a contemporary, well-educated Orthodox woman, a rabbi's daughter. She searches for her beloved father's controversial book about the legendary Bruriah, known for her Talmudic brilliance, her challenge to the assertion that women were lightheaded, and her mysterious death. The modern-day Bruriah's quest leads her into confrontation with religious opponents, conflict with her husband, and an association with a younger man. BRURIAH has it all; betrayal, death, G-d, sex, and an ending filmgoers discuss long after the lights come up.

Directed by Avraham Kushnir. Written by Avraham Kushnir, Baruch Brener, Hadar Galron, Yuval Kushnir

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew with English subtitles.

ELI & BEN (2008)
Feature Film / 2 Screenings

In Hebrew with English subtitles                                     Running Time: 90 minutes

Saturday, Oct. 31 | 10:30 pm | AMC Loews 600 North Michigan
Sunday, Nov. 8 | 3:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre

The world of 12-year-old Eli (Yuval Shevach) is turned upside down when his father Ben (Lior Ashkenazi), the city architect of suburban Herzliya, is charged with taking bribes. Ben is taken into custody before his son's eyes, and the news makes its way to the school playground. Eli is convinced his father is innocent, and struggles to see his father released. Eli faces injustice, corruption and pretense among both adults and children. He has to shape and stick to his own principles. In the process, he rediscovers his father and tastes the bitter sting of first love. ELI & BEN is director Ori Ravid's first film.

Directed and Written by Ori Ravid.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew with English subtitles.

FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS (2007)
Feature Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew and French with English subtitles
Running Time: 95 minutes / Strong language

Photo - The National Center for Jewish Film

Tuesday, Nov. 3 | 8:45 pm | Wilmette Theatre

2008 ISRAELI FILM ACADEMY AWARDS (THE OPHIR AWARDS) Nominations - Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actress-Yael Abecassis

France's popular actor Gad Elmaleh, and Israel's adored actress, Yael Abecassis, star in FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS, a comedy/drama told through the eyes and words of an 11-year-old boy. The charming Felix, is head of an Israeli family of four living in an inner-city Parisian suburb in the early 1970s. As he gradually transforms into a small-time racketeer, he encounters the local godfather.  Soon Felix is out of his league and wanted by the police. Although his wife attempts to shelter her children from their father's shame, the older son discovers the truth about the man he idolizes and attempts follow in his father's footsteps.

Directed and Written by Marco Carmel.

Click here for the trailer in French with English and Hebrew subtitles.

THE FIRE WITHIN - JEWS IN THE AMAZONIAN RAIN FOREST (2008)
Documentary Film / 1 Screening

In Spanish and English with English subtitles                    Running Time: 60 minutes

Wednesday, Nov. 4 | 6:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre SOLD OUT
(Co-hosted by To Protect Our Heritage PAC)

THE FIRE WITHIN, a fascinating documentary reflecting survival of spirit, belief and heritage, is the story of a unique Jewish community in the Amazonian rainforest. Among the adventurers who came to the rainforest during the great rubber boom in the late 19th century were Moroccan Jewish men, some of whom settled in the isolated town of Iquitos, Peru. They married indigenous women, raised families, mixed their Jewish traditions with Amazonian culture, yet maintained names such as Cohen, Pinto, and Khan. Following their "discovery," many of the Iquitos' Jewish community sought rabbinical assistance to help them "return" to Jewish tradition, religion and to the land of Israel.

Directed by Lorry Salcedo Mitrani. Written by Augusto Cabada.

Rabbi Alex Felch of B'nai Tikvah in Deerfield, Illinois, one of the rabbis who assisted in the "return" will speak after the screening.

THE GREEN DUMPSTER MYSTERY (2008)
Documentary Film / 1 Screening

With English narration
Running Time: 50 minutes

Thursday, Nov. 5 | 5:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre

2008 Jerusalem Film Festival - Jewish Experience Award

This film vividly evokes the now-extinguished lives of an extended family seared by the Holocaust and modern Israeli tragedies. Traveling on his scooter through south Tel Aviv, filmmaker Tal Haim Yoffe notices an old photograph and some documents inside a green dumpster. This began an investigation that slowly revealed a tragic family history beginning in Lodz; transversing a Siberian Gulag, a Samarkand sugar plant, a kibbutz movement in Frankfurt, a deserted Arab building in Jaffa, and an absentee IDF soldier somewhere in the sands of the Sinai Peninsula. THE GREEN DUMPSTER MYSTERY is an extraordinary "docu-detective" film.

Directed and Written by Tal Haim Yoffe.

HOLY LAND HARDBALL (2008)
Documentary Film / 2 screenings

In English                                                                      Running Time: 83 minutes

Sunday, Nov. 1 | 1:00 pm | AMC Loews 600 North Michigan
(Hosted by Robert Mazer, Chicago White Sox Board of Directors)

Sunday, Nov. 8 | 3:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre

2008 Boston Jewish Film Festival - Audience Award - Best Documentary

HOLY LAND HARDBALL is the story of the players and managers who tried to create Israel's first professional baseball league in the summer of 2007. The award-winning documentary is an engaging account of Boston bagel maker Larry Baras' dream. He recruited 120 diverse ballplayers for the IBL, with tryouts in Massachusetts, Dominican Republic, and the Holy Land itself. Team managers are former Jewish major leaguers, all with Chicago connections - Ken Holtzman and Art Shamsky, former CHICAGO CUBS, and Ron Blomberg, who played with the CHICAGO WHITE SOX.  Baras and his recruits have the challenging task of drawing the Israeli people to a sport they've never had in 5,767 years. An entertaining documentary, showing a side of Israel far from the news headlines - one of peace, normalcy and discovering the joys of the great American pastime.

Directed and written by Brett Rapkin and Erik Kesten.

Click here for the trailer in English. 

THE ISRAELI DOC CHALLENGE (2009)
U.S. PREMIERE
Documentary Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew with English subtitles
Running Time: 50 minutes

Sunday, Nov. 1 | 5:30 pm | AMC Loews 600 North Michigan
(Hosted by Columbia College Chicago/ School of Media Arts)

The International Documentary Challenge competition gave filmmakers only five days to film, edit, and ship a short non-fiction film (four to seven minutes.)  In addition to time restrictions, the Challenge assigned the specific themes to dictate the content and direction of the films. Last May, a special regional "Doc Challenge" focused on the Centennial Anniversary of Tel Aviv, THE ISRAELI DOC CHALLENGE. Fifteen Israeli filmmakers were selected to participate, and the winning films premiered at this year's Docaviv Festival. The CFIC presents the top nine winners.

JERUSALEM SYNDROME (2007)
U.S. PREMIERE
Feature Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew, French, English and Russian with English, with English, French and Hebrew subtitles
Running Time: 90 minutes / Some sexual content

Saturday, Nov. 7 | 9:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre SOLD OUT

2009 Festival Of Israeli Cinema, Paris, Winner - Public Award

JERUSALEM SYNDROME is a funny farcical lampooning of Israel's multicultural society. Liron Levo, a leading Israeli actor, proves himself a gifted comic as a Tel Aviv delivery man in love with a young prostitute about to be sold by her Georgian pimp. Realizing the danger, Levo steals a shared cab to rescue her. But the cab isn't empty, and they pick up others along the way, including a French civil servant suffering from Jerusalem Syndrome, an actual psychosis afflicting mostly non-Jews visiting Jerusalem, a rapture in which they believe they're holy. Other passengers include a yeshiva student bringing a special hat to an important rabbi; a sexy soldier and a waitress immersed in New Age culture. The group is pursued by the Ben-Gurion quoting pimp and an overly confident cop.  The French directors know Israel well and aren't afraid to take each situation to its logical - or illogical - conclusion.

Directed and written by Stephane Belaish and Emmanuel Naccache.

Click here for the trailer with English subtitles.

LOST ISLANDS (2008)
Feature Film / 3 Screenings

In Hebrew with English subtitles 
Running Time: 103 minutes

Saturday, Oct. 31 | 6:00 pm | AMC Loews 600 North Michigan
Monday, Nov. 2 | 5:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre - SUBURBAN OPENING FILM SOLD OUT
Sunday, Nov. 8 | 6:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre SOLD OUT

2008 ISRAELI FILM ACADEMY AWARDS (THE OPHIR AWARDS) Winner - Best Actor, Michael Moshonov; Best Supporting Actor, Shmil Ben Ari; Best Music; Best Costume Design; plus 10 more nominations including Best Film; Best Director; Best Actress, Orly Silbersatz Banai; Best Supporting Actor, Oshri Cohen; Best Supporting Actress Yuval Scharf; Best Screenplay; Best Art Direction;  Best Cinematography; Best Editing; and Best Sound

LOST ISLANDS, Israel's biggest box office success in 2008 is an autobiographic drama, set in the 1980s, centering on a large family with twin brothers, who seem opposite in strength in every way. One is weak, the other strong; one is the father's favorite, the other the mother's; one dreams of military glory, the other of normality. Then they fall in love with the same girl and struggle with their own aspirations and family loyalty.

Directed by Reshef Levy. Written by Regev Levy and Reshef Levy. 

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew with English subtitles.

MELTDOWN (2008)
Feature Film Short / 2 Screenings

In Hebrew and Russian with English and Hebrewbbb with English and Hebrew subtitles
Running Time: 25 minutes

Sunday, Nov. 1 | 5:30 pm | AMC Loews 600 North Michigan
(Hosted by Columbia College Chicago/School of Media Arts)

Monday, Nov. 2 | 8:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre

2008 Cinema South Festival, Sderot, Israel -  Best Photography Award

Twelve-year-old Vika dreams of ice-skating on the national Russian team, but is rejected for being Jewish. Her father then decides to immigrate to Israel, and Vika finds herself in a new country with no ice rinks; a new unfamiliar world. She is lonely at school and misses ice-skating. When Alexander realizes Vika's challenges, he tries to cheer her up. Vika realizes she doesn't belong anywhere... except where her father is. MELTDOWN is actually semi-autobiographical and portrays director and screenwriter Kathy Rivkin's own trials and tribulations as a new Russian immigrant.

Directed and written by Kathy Rivkin.

MRS. MOSCOWITZ AND THE CATS (2009)
U.S. PREMIERE
Feature Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew with English subtitles
Running Time: 83 minutes

Wednesday, Nov. 4 | 8:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre
(Hosted by American Technion Society)

2009 JERUSALEM FILM FESTIVAL Winner, Wolgin Award Best Actress - Rita Zohar
2009 ISRAELI FILM ACADEMY AWARDS (THE OPHIR AWARDS) Best Actress Nominee - Rita Zohar

The U.S. premiere of a new Israeli film!  MRS. MOSCOWITZ AND THE CATS is a beautiful and sensitive story about the loneliness, fear and limitations of growing old alone. The film stars Rita Zohar, winner of the Wolgin Award for "Best Actress" at 2009 Jerusalem Film Festival for her performance, as Yolanda Moscowitz. She is a retired French teacher suffering a lengthy convalescence in a geriatric rehab center from a broken hip. There she discovers a new life when she makes two new friends:  Allegra, her roommate, who lives with the fear of facing death alone and Shaul (Moni Moshonov), who despite his own demons has the strength to reach out to Yolanda and teach her to love again.

Directed by Jorge Gurvich. Written by Yoav Katz.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew with English subtitles.

THE NAME MY MOTHER GAVE ME (2008)
Documentary Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew and Amharic with English subtitles
Running Time:  56 minutes

Monday, Nov. 2 | 8:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre

THE NAME MY MOTHER GAVE ME, an uplifting and moving documentary, follows a group of Ethiopian and Russian-born Israeli adolescents whose pre-army leadership-training program culminates in a trip to Ethiopia. The picturesque valley of the Ethiopian region of Gondar is the scene of remarkable discoveries as the Ethiopian participants reunite with their past, each undergoing a personal transformation. This life-changing journey turns a group of initially dissimilar young men into brothers, who together confront their pasts and move forward. The Israel Broadcasting Authority's Documentary Department has chosen THE NAME MY MOTHER GAVE ME as one of the best of Israeli documentaries broadcast on Channel One in the past 40 years.

Directed and written by Eli Tal-El, Ami Drozd, Elaine Matlow-Tal-El.

Filmmaker Eli Tal-El is scheduled to be in Chicago to speak at the screening.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew and Amharic with English subtitles.

PINCHAS (2008)
Feature Film Short / 2 Screenings

In Hebrew and Russian with English subtitles
Running Time: 30 minutes

Sunday, Nov. 1 | 5:30 pm | AMC Loews 600 North Michigan
(Hosted by Columbia College Chicago/School of Media Arts)

Monday, Nov. 2 | 8:45 pm | Wilmette Theatre

2009 THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS - OSCAR® Finalist
2009: Beijing International Film Festival - Best Asian Film; OnFilm Fest, Virginia - Grand Jury Prize For Best Short; Jewish Motifs Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland - Bronze Award

Nine-year-old Pinchas lives in poverty and loneliness with his Russian immigrant mother, who works the night shift and sleeps during the day. When the boy is drawn to the warmth and unity of religious neighbors, two worlds - his mother's and his neighbors' - collide. The performances of Evgenia Dodina, Anthony Berman, Yonatan Rozen and Michael Coresh, combined with a wonderful story, adds up to the best 30 minutes one could spend watching a movie.

Directed and written by Pini Tagver.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew and Russian with English subtitles.  

RABBI FIRER: A REASON TO QUESTION (2008)
Documentary Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew and English with English subtitles
Running Time: 58 minutes

Monday, Nov. 2 | 8:45 pm | Wilmette Theatre

2009 Worldfest Houston International Film Festival - Platinum Remi Award

With medicine emerging as an incomprehensible series of specialists and doctors, options and opinions, experimental drugs and high-tech medical equipment, about 150 Israeli patients a day seek a second opinion from an unusual Orthodox rabbi, self-educated in medicine. He can change the way his patients are treated with a single phone call, often to world-renowned experts in their fields. Rabbi Elimelech Firer, 54, has been a volunteer medical adviser for 30 years. With determination, up-to-date knowledge, and unique diagnostic abilities, he challenges doctors to rethink the well-being of the patient. A story about an exceptional rabbi combining religious values and the power of knowledge. Both admired and criticized by those within the medical establishment, he remains a fascinating phenomenon.

Directed and written by Amit Goren.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew with English subtitles.

THE RABBI'S DAUGHTER AND THE MIDWIFE (2008) U.S. PREMIERE
Documentary Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew and English with English and Hebrewggg with English and Hebrew subtitles
Running Time:  50 minutes

Tuesday, Nov. 3 | 8:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre SOLD OUT
(Co-hosted by Shaare Zedek Medical Center of Jerusalem, Midwest US Region)

An inspiring documentary about two amazing women confronting religious constraints to effect social change with bold, brave, feminine ingenuity and resourcefulness. Adina Bar-Shalom, eldest daughter of Israel's powerful and revered Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, established the first academia-focused college for ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel. Her goal was to provide both men and women the opportunity to be educated, enabling them to find employment to support their families. Rachel Chalkowski, known as Bambi, has delivered more than 30,000 babies.  As head nurse and legendary midwife at Shaare Zedek Medical Center of Jerusalem, she witnesses the hardships of ultra Orthodox women giving birth to their 10th or 12th child, while carrying the burden of providing for the entire family. Bambi runs a charitable foundation to help support these overworked and underappreciated women. Adina and Bambi are two women who, against the odds, accomplished the extraordinary.

Directed by Ron Ofer and Yohai Hakak. Written by Ron Ofer.

SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN (2008)
Feature Film / 2 Screenings

In Hebrew with English subtitles
Running Time:  94 minutes / Mature Subject Matter

Saturday, Oct. 31 | 8:30 pm | AMC Loews 600 North Michigan
(Co-Hosted by Friends of the IDF and City PAC)

Saturday, Nov. 7 | 6:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre SOLD OUT
(Hosted by AIPAC - The American Israel Public Affairs Committee)

2008 Haifa International Film Festival - Best Feature

Galia and her boyfriend Oren board a packed Jerusalem bus. One passenger is a suicide bomber. After the explosion, Galia is left with severe burns and total memory loss of the day of the terrorist attack. Oren is knocked into a coma. The film begins one year after the attack, upon Oren's death. As Galia continues physical and psychological therapy, she attempts to stitch together the shattered fragments of her life and soul. A cherished necklace, returned to her by an unidentified sender, sets her on the journey to find the missing pieces of the puzzle from that horrific day.

Directed and written by Omri Givon.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew with English subtitles.  


SNAPSHOTS (2008)
Documentary Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew and English with English subtitles
Running Time:  50 minutes

Thursday, Nov. 5 | 5:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre

In the last 60 years, the Israeli collective memory has been burned with several never-to-be-forgotten images. As part of Israel@60 events, filmmaker Dov Gil-Har returns to seven of these images, meets the protagonists of the historical moments, and reconstructs the images. The earliest was taken in 1949; the most recent in 1997. SNAPSHOTS is composed of seven segments between seven to 12 minutes each. The stories were aired on Israel's Channel 10 news on consecutive evenings and gained significant public attention.

Directed by Dov Gil-Har and Uri Rozen. Written by Uri Rozen.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew with English subtitles.

SRUGIM (2008)
TV Series / 2 Screenings (3 episodes each)

In Hebrew with English
Running Time: each episode 30 minutes

Sunday, Nov. 1 | 8:00 pm | AMC Loews 600 North Michigan
(Hosted by Sidney N. Shure Kehilla)

Saturday, Nov. 7 | 9:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre

2009 ISRAELI TELEVISION ACADEMY AWARDS - Best TV Series, Best Script, Best Actress (Yael Sharon), Best Costumes

One of Israel's most popular 2008 TV series, SRUGIM succeeds in casting aside the one-dimensional stereotype of Orthodox Jews. SRUGIM portrays a vibrant, young and exciting community of religious singles dealing with issues and conflicts of everyday life in contemporary Israel. In Jerusalem neighborhoods of Rehavia, Katamon, Nachlaot and the German Colony, a.k.a. the "Jerusalem Swamp," a new social class of single men and women in their 30s seeks relationships, warmth, and love and to live "normal" lives within the constraints religion and tradition place upon them. The Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema will present the first three episodes.

Directed by Eliezer Shapiro. Created by Eliezer Shapiro, Hava Divon.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew with English and Hebrew subtitles.


VALENTINA'S MOTHER (2008)
U.S. PREMIERE
Feature Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew and Polish with English subtitles
Running Time: 76 minutes / Mature subject matter

Wednesday, Nov. 4 | 5:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre
(Co-hosted by WITASWAN - Women in the Audience Supporting Women Artists Now)

2009 THE ISRAELI ACADEMY AWARDS (THE OPHIR AWARDS) - Best Actress Nominee - Ethel Kovenska

Based on the novel "Women from a Catalog," by noted Israeli writer Savyon Liebrecht, VALENTINA'S MOTHER is the complex story of the relationship between Pola (Ethel Kovenska), a Holocaust survivor living alone in Israel, and Valentina, a young Polish migrant worker, whom Pola hires as her home care provider. Valentina's name is the same as Pola's beloved childhood friend, and repressed memories from the Holocaust are awakened. Pola's growing dependence and obsession with the young girl leads Pola's son to attempt to create a rift between the two. Pola's dark memories continue to surface, and she confuses the lives and betrayals of the past with the present.

Directed and written by Matti Harari and Arik Lubetzky.

Click here for the trailer in Polish with English and Hebrew subtitles.

VOICES FROM EL-SAYED (2008)
Documentary Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew, Arabic and Israeli Sign Languagebb with with English subtitles
Running Time:  52 minutes

Thursday, Nov. 5 | 8:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre

2009 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, North Carolina  - Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award

In the picturesque Israeli Negev desert, the Bedouin village El-Sayed has the world's largest percentage of deaf people. Yet, no hearing aids are seen because in El-Sayed deafness is not a handicap. Through the generations a unique sign language has evolved, the most popular communication in this rare society. A father's decision to change his deaf son's fate by accepting the offer of Jewish Israeli doctors for a Cochlear Implant operation disrupts the village's tranquility. The new technology will change El-Sayed forever.

Directed and written by Oded Adomi Leshem.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew and sign language with English subtitles.



THE WOMAN FROM SARAJEVO (2007)
Documentary Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew, Serbian and English with English subtitles
Running Time:  65 minutes

Tuesday, Nov. 3 | 8:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre SOLD OUT
(Co-hosted by Shaare Zedek Medical Center of Jerusalem, Midwest US Region)

THE WOMAN FROM SARAJEVO is the dramatic story of the Sarajevo Moslem Hardaga family whose rescue of the Sarajevo Jewish Kabilio family during the Holocaust cost the lives of the Hardaga father and son. Years later, the rescued Jews helped their Moslem friends escape the Yugoslavian Civil War and find safe haven in Israel. Zineba Hardaga was the first Moslem woman honored as a "Righteous Among The Nations" at Israel's Yad Vashem, Holocaust Memorial and Museum. Zineba's daughter Sara, a convert to Judaism, travels back to Sarajevo where she meets her divided family; her Moslem sister and her Christian brother.

Directed and written by Ella Alterman.

Filmmaker Ella Alterman is scheduled to be in Chicago to speak at the screening.

THE WOMAN FROM THE BUBBLE (2007)
Documentary Film / 1 Screening

In Hebrew, Arabic and Israeli Sign Languagebb with with English subtitles
Running Time:  59 minutes

Thursday, Nov. 5 | 8:30 pm | Wilmette Theatre

Deaf and hearing people know Lee Dan as the woman in "the small bubble on the TV screen" translating programs into sign language. Outside the bubble, Lee goes on interpreting for deaf people in many situations: at school, in court, in therapy, and even in the delivery room. The film goes into the bubble and enters the world of the deaf. It also tells the story of people like Lee, who are between worlds, the majority and the minority, between silence and sound.

Directed and written by Netta Loevy.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew with English subtitles.  

ZRUBAVEL (2008)
Feature Film / 2 Screenings

In Hebrew and Amharic Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with English and Hebrew subtitles
Running Time: 72 minutes

Sunday, Nov. 1 | 3:00 pm | AMC Loews 600 North Michigan
Saturday, Nov. 7 | 7:00 pm | Wilmette Theatre
(Hosted by Immigration Law Associates, P.C.)

2008 Haifa International Film Festival - Best Drama
2009 Taormina Film Festival, Sicily - Jury Award

ZRUBAVEL is Israel's first all Ethiopian feature film. Getea Zrubavel and his wife immigrated to Israel with their three children, Hana, Almaz and Gili. Hana's husband has become religious without her support. Almaz marries a distant relative against her parents' wishes. Gili vacillates between a life of crime and a dream of becoming an Israeli hero. Getea's grandson, Itzhak, known as "Spike Lee" aspires to a film-directing career. The story unfolds through his video camera lens as he films everything in his neighborhood, from the mundane to the criminal. A chain of events undermines Getea's control over his family. The struggle is between Getea's cherished Ethiopian customs and the younger generation's desire to assimilate within Israeli culture. ZRUBAVEL is Shmuel Beru's screenwriting and directorial debut. In 1984, at the age of 8, Beru walked across the Sudanese desert to immigrate to Israel as part of the United Jewish Appeal-sponsored Operation Moses.

Directed and written by Shmuel Beru.

Click here for the trailer in Hebrew and Amharic with English subtitles.