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Archives from the Festival in 2008 |
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Noodle Awards: winner - Grand Prix of the Jury, Montreal World Film Festival, 2007 100 min. Hebrew, English, French w/ English subtitles. Writer/Director: Dror Shaul. Director: Ayelet Menahemi |
Israel's entry to the 2007 Oscars®, this lush,
coming-of-age tale spotlights a 12-year old boy caught between an
emotionally unstable mother and the rigid socialistic values of their 1970's
kibbutz. Abundant with humor and heartache, "Sweet Mud" offers an
unvarnished and personal portrait of life on an Israeli kibbutz, often
idealized as a paragon of utopian movements but not equipped to cope with
individuality. As the mother's condition worsens, her son is forced into a
life-altering decision. Sweet Mud will challenge and move you like few other
films. (Israel /Germany, 2006, 100 min. Hebrew, English, French w/ English
subtitles). |
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Befort Awards: Oscar 2008 nominee - Best Foreign Language Film, Winner of Best Director Award, Berlin FF, 2007 132 min., Hebrew w/ subtitles). Director: Joseph Cedar. |
A powerful Israeli war drama about a group of soldiers stationed at the Beaufort, a 12th century Crusader fortress in southern Lebanon, led by Liraz Liberti, who was the last commander on the Beaufort castle just prior to Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. Israel's sudden withdrawal from Beaufort and Lebanon, after 18 years of controversial occupation, is the backdrop for Cedar's film, which frames the gripping daily routine of a group of soldiers, their feelings and their fears, and explores the moral dilemmas in the days preceding the withdrawal. |  |
She's Got It Festivals: AICE Film Festival Australia, 2007 90 min., Hebrew w/English subtitles. Director: Yankul Goldwasser.
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In this lighthearted film, Malka Ohion, a seamstress, leads workers in Mitzpe Ramon in a battle against management and the threat of a lay-off. Meanwhile, her sister Yafit, a teller in a local bank, falls in love with a security guard who works for a cash transport company. The guard takes advantage of Yafit's innocence by making her an accomplice in the robbery he is planning with his friend Weizman. When Malka learns of the plot, she engages her sister and Weizman's wife in a counter-scheme. Malka and her cohorts try to deceive the would-be robbers, grab the bounty and embark on a new path. (Israel, 2006, 90 min., Hebrew w/English subtitles. |
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The Champagne Spy Awards: Best Documentary - Israeli Academy Awards, 2007, Special Jury Nomination Award - DocAviv, 2007, Nominated European Film Award for Best Documentary, 2007. 90 min. Hebrew/w subtitles) Director: Nadav Schirman. |
Major Ze'ev Gur- Arie was an Israeli officer drafted by the Mossad in 1960 in order to penetrate the circle of German scientists developing weapons of mass destruction in Egypt. German born, Aryan blond and blue eyed, Gur- Arie was the perfect candidate for the mission. Gur- Arie arrived in Cairo as Wolfgang Lotz, ex-Nazi German millionaire and horse breeder, and became one of the Mossad's most famous operators. Champagne, love and deception are the elements of this riveting feature-documentary spy story. In this film, the son, Oded Gur- Arie (57) and Lotz's former colleagues and high ranking Mossad officials, break over 40 years of silence and give an insight into the world of espionage and the life of a spy and his family. |
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A Hebrew Lesson
123 min. Hebrew, English, Russian, German, Spanish w/English subtitles) Directors: David Ofek and Ron Rotem
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Chin (China), Sasha (Russia), Marisol (Peru), and other characters, all came to Israel for different reasons. They meet in a Hebrew language Ulpan, where their personal stories melt with the complexities of Israeli reality. The immense effort of learning a new language is revealed through their encounter with the culture and unfamiliar environment of Israel, and their view of Israeli society--at times funny, at times sad--paints daily reality with irony. But beyond the obvious differences, this film is about compassion, love, and humanity |
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Sweet Mud
Awards: Best Drama - Sundance Dramatic World Cinema Jury Award, 2007, Best Feature Film - Berlin FF Crystal Bear, 2007, Israeli Academy - Best Film Award 2006, and entry to the 2007 Oscars® 100 min. Hebrew, English, French w/ English subtitles). Writer/Director: Dror Shaul. |
Israel's entry to the 2007 Oscars®, this lush, coming-of-age tale spotlights a 12-year old boy caught between an emotionally unstable mother and the rigid socialistic values of their 1970's kibbutz. Abundant with humor and heartache, "Sweet Mud" offers an unvarnished and personal portrait of life on an Israeli kibbutz, often idealized as a paragon of utopian movements but not equipped to cope with individuality. As the mother's condition worsens, her son is forced into a life-altering decision. Sweet Mud will challenge and move you like few other films. |
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Jelly Fish 78 min. Hebrew w/English subtitles) Director: Etgar Keret. Awards: Winner - Camera D'Or, Cannes Film Festival, 2007, Official selection - Toronto Film Festival, 2007.
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Poignant, often witty and exceedingly cinematic, JELLYFISH tells the story of three very different Tel Aviv women whose intersecting stories weave an unlikely portrait of modern Israeli life. Batya, a catering waitress, takes in a child apparently abandoned at a local beach. Batya is one of the servers at the wedding reception of Keren,
a bride who breaks her leg escaping a locked toilet stall, ruining her
chance at a dream Caribbean honeymoon. And attending the event with an
employer is Joy, a non Hebrew-speaking domestic worker who has guiltily left
her son behind in her native Philippines. As this distaff trio separately
wends their way through Israel's most cosmopolitan city, they struggle with
issues of communication, affection and destiny — but at times find uneasy
refuge in its tranquil seas |
Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia, P.O. Box 171, Gladwyne, Pa. 19035 e: igid@iffphila.com p: 484.904.5421
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