A documentary about the search for the Israel director Moshe Guez — sometimes called the “Israel Ed Wood” — and the whereabouts of his rarely seen, much censored, debut feature film, The Angel was a Devil.
Archives
I Saw Giraffes in India
The “Girafot” (Giraffes), a wild Israeli Folk-Rock band, go on a magical musical tour across India with a climax concert planned in Goa, the capital of the Israeli travelers. However, the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, one week prior to the band’s tour, take the journey off-track and send the band on a search for the thousands of Israeli backpackers who fled Goa in fear of another attack. I Saw Giraffes in India is a musical portrait of the band and their charismatic lead singer, Gilad Kahana, a rock star, poet and compulsive workaholic, who persistently attempts to change the Karma of the tour.
Chronicling a Crisis
Award-winning director Amos Kollek takes a penetrating look in the mirror, at the addiction that is filmmaking, after the failure of his film Happy End. He chronicles his family from 2004 to the present, especially his conflicted relationship with his father, the mythical mayor of Jerusalem. Intertwined with Amos’s story is the story of Robin, a NY prostitute who Amos meets on his quest to fund his next film. Both struggle with their highs and lows trying to find some harmony to help them proceed to the future.
The Hangman
The life of Shalom, the Nazi major officer Adolf Eichmann’s hangman, turned ritual slaughterer, encapsulates the story of Israel from the perspective of the “other” – the marginalized Sephardi prison warden who is forced to do the dirty work of hanging the arch enemy and thus to carry a national burden that dramatically shaped his life. His job in the abattoir, together with his memories of his past, create a fascinating and complex portrait.
Shalom’s clear, alternative voice from the margins of society carries a deeply humanistic universal message.
Grace
Gracie, a Filipina who came to Israel to look for work 20 years ago, married an Israeli man and bore him three sons. Since then she has lived with a split identity: half Filipina – half Israeli. She divorced, rediscovered her sexuality, entered a relationship with a Filipina and opened a beauty salon at the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station. The film follows Gracie, torn between shifting identities, whose deepest desire is to create a real home for herself and her Israeli children.
Ruth
Someone To Hum With
Machrumba
After many failed attempts, Yoav finally succeeds in finding a place where he can be alone: a mountain between minefields and Syrian army relics. Building his home fills his life with art and creativity, connects him to the place and its history, and protects him from the difficult and painful confrontation with society.
Remind Me Who I Am
Nissim Aharon does not remember who Nissim Aharon is. Four years ago he was fired from his job, Fainted and when he woke up he could not remember a thing. Medically his brain is fine, but Nissim does not remember his wife and children. He cannot even remember what a woman is. An unusual personal story of an ordinary man who woke up one day with no identity, and yet must go on with his life.
Hula and Natan
The comic-tragic story of the brothers Hula and Natan, two car mechanics from the outskirts of Sderot, a city in the south of Israel constantly bombed by rockets from Gaza. The two live in a caravan in the weedy yard that serves as their garage, surrounded by old jalopies and clunkers. While the situation between Israel and Gaza deteriorates, Hula and Natan’s garage, their only source of income, is about to be closed down by the authorities. With a lot of grotesque humor, and under the continuing threat to their lives and work, the two try to survive, but sink deeper and deeper into the depths of fatalistic frustration.
