An early travelogue on Palestine, focusing on Jews living and working in the Holy Land. Places shown include Jerusalem, the Judean Hills, Rehovot, Tiberias, Tel Aviv, Jaffa Beach, etc.
Archives
Flames in the Ashes
The Films of Yaacov Ben Dov: Father of the Hebrew Cinema
A chronicle of the intertwined history of the early days of Zionism and filmmaking in Palestine as shown through the telling portrait of filmmaker Yaakov Ben Dov. The helmer was the first Jewish settler in Palestine to register, on film, events from the point of view of the Zionist movement. His films were funded by major Zionist institutions, such as the Jewish National Fund and the Palestine Foundation.
Shalom Israel
Renowned singer Sidor Belarsky, through song and narration, takes us on a whirlwind tour of the nascent State of Israel. Filmed in 1951, we travel together with the famous vocalist from the Syrian border to the Red Sea, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. Replete with favorite songs from the early years.
Land of Promise
This is one of Palestine’s earliest sound films and part of a larger campaign to encourage settlement and investment in “the Jewish homeland.” Land of Promise emphasizes secular accomplishments and portrays Zionist settlers with considerable cinematographic and editorial skill. Punctuated by evocative close-ups, this part-documentary, part-travelogue, part-message film shows Palestine as a land of opportunity, the place for fulfilling an ancient dream. Preserved by and made available in cooperation with the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House.
A Milk Well, Mid Town
A documentary project about a dozen young poets who constitute an intellectual and cultural opposition to the mainstream.
Blood Relation delete
The Film Class
About two years ago, Filmmaker Uri Rosenwaks, came to Rahat, a Bedouin town down in Israel’s Negev Dessert, to teach a group of Black Bedouin women a class in filmmaking. Rahat is by no means an ordinary place. It is afflicted with pessimism, unemployment, poverty and violence. It is partially populated by the Black Bedouins who were brought to the Negev, and the Middle East at large, as slaves. Kidnapped in Africa by Arab slave traders, they were auctioned-off in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Zanzibar. Until 50 years ago, the Black Bedouins were enslaved by the White ones. When the Director first started working with the group, he had no knowledge of it. The women never mentioned the issue he found increasingly intriguing. Only after about 18 months of working and making short films together, did he work up the nerve to suggest that they will make a film telling the history of the Black Bedouins. Suddenly, a small and modest course in filmmaking became a place in which a great taboo comes into the open. The women still suffering discrimination to this day unveil a story which few have spoken of.
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Paddleball
Walk on any Israeli beach and you’re sure to find at least a dozen people playing paddleball. The game has swept the nation, and beaches will never be the same! This delightful short comes from the Israeli Documentary Challenge, a filmmaking competition where filmmakers have only five days to make a short.
Under The Same Sun
The film is set in the near future, and it looks back at the story of two businessmen – one Palestinian and one Israeli – who struggle to set up a solar energy company. Both come from societies where there is strong opposition to cooperating with the other, and the film tells how they overcome hostility from within their own families and from the people around them. In the end, they mount a Facebook campaign that impacts both their joint venture and ultimately changes the political map.
