The film is semi-biographical, documenting the life of a young woman who uses sex as a weapon to influence right-wing individuals and conservative Muslims. Baya Benmahmoud, a scatter-brained, free-spirited, young left-wing activist, sleeps with her political opposites in order to manipulate them to her cause, until she finds her match in Arthur Martin.
Set in 1980, Lost Islands is a comical autobiography that follows an Israeli family of five children. Erez, one of the twins, sabotages the father’s car and is then involved in a car accident that leaves the father a cripple. Erez then attempts to escape a variety of things – his affection for a girl, his twin brother and nursing his father. He enrolls in the army and undergoes terrible events that force him to mature and finally understand that there is no escape from the decision: whether to pursue your dreams or keep allegiance to your family.
The struggle between an Israeli corporation and an Arab entrepreneur for control of the candy market serves as an allegory for Jewish-Arab relations in Israel and its status in the international community.
Ervinka is a 1967 Israeli film written and directed by Ephraim Kishon. The film, starring Chaim Topol (best known for his role as Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof) is a comical tale of a con man who falls in love with a police officer.
Dr. Yoel Pomerantz, 64, an unemployed clinical psychologist, lives in poverty in his twelfth floor apartment with his son Yoav, 30, who works as a parking inspector and loves giving out tickets, despite suffering from Asperger’s. Dr. Pomerantz volunteers at ANA, the psychology hotline, and as an expert on suicide callers, he suggests that they come to his clinic for private therapy sessions. One day, a patient named Shtark is offended when Pomerantz arrives late for a session and jumps off his twelfth floor balcony to his death. Shtark’s suicide provides the doctor with a life changing idea—to rent his apartment to potentially suicidal tenants for enormous sums of money. Funny, sad and philosophical, this black comedy raises the important question of why we live or, more accurately, why we don’t just give up on living. After all, “Life is a disease with 100% mortality.”
The action comedy is set in 1944. Hitler appears in it as physically and mentally destroyed person who takes the advice of Goebbels in the actor-teacher of Jewish concentration camp for lessons eloquence to inspire the German people to further fight.
When his ex-wife Nora dies right before Passover, Jose is forced to stay with her body until she can be properly put to rest. He soon realizes he is part of Nora’s plan to bring her family back together for one last Passover feast, leading Jose to reexamine their relationship and rediscover their undying love for each other.
Anita is the story of a young woman with Down syndrome (Alejandra Manzo) who lives a happy, routine life in Buenos Aires, being meticulously cared for by her mother Dora (Academy Award nominee Norma Aleandro). One tragic morning in 1994, everything changes when Anita is left alone, confused and helpless after the nearby Argentine Israelite Mutual Association is bombed (the deadliest bombing in Argentina’s history). As Anita wanders through the city, she learns not only to care for herself, but touches the lives of those around her, from an alcoholic to a family of Asian immigrants.
Insightful and often hilarious, the latest from documentary filmmaker Alan Zweig surveys the history of Jewish comedy, from the early days of Borsht Belt to the present, ultimately exploring not just ethnicity in the entertainment industry, but also the entire unruly question of what it means to be Jewish.
A real estate agent and his wife upset with his wife’s newest pregnancy, throwing their marriage into turmoil. A suspicious businessman returns to Israel to care for his ailing father. A single mother tries to stay afloat after losing her job. A radio technician produces a program that could shed light on his past. What happens when the lives of these residents of Tel Aviv become intertwined?
