As the Allies sweep across Germany, Lore leads her siblings on a journey that exposes them to the truth of their parents’ beliefs. An encounter with a mysterious refugee forces Lore to rely on a person she has always been taught to hate.
Archives
La Rafle
In picturesque Montmarte, three children wearing a yellow star play in the streets, oblivious to the darkness spreading over Nazi-occupied France. Their parents do not seem too concerned either, somehow putting their trust in the Vichy Government. But beyond this view, storm clouds are gathering. Hitler demands that the French government round up its Jews and put them on trains for the extermination camps in the East. And sooon the collaborators start to put the plan into effect, and within a short time, thirteen thousand of Parisian Jews—among them four thousand children—will be rounded up and sent on a road with no return. As the Nazis feed the children deceptions, two brave children and a nurse struggle to uncover the truth and escape from the terror.
Remembrance
Amidst the terror of a German concentration camp in 1944 Poland, a young Jewish woman and a Polish prisoner fall in love. This impossible passion fuels the prisoner’s courage, who manages to rescue his Jewish girlfriend. Against all odds, they escape the camp and survive a treacherous journey to freedom. But during the chaos of the end of the war, they are forcibly separated and each is convinced that the other has died.
More than thirty years later in New York, the happily married 52-year-old woman accidentally gets the most astonishing news of her life: her former Polish lover is still alive. And she has to see him again.
Habermann
The saw mill owner Habermann is the biggest employer in his village and married to Jana, a young and beautiful Czech woman, who is half Jewish. Although Habermann is not interested in politics or ideology, he and his family will be steamrolled by the insanity of World War II. As he tries to save his wife, daughter, and Czech workers from Nazi terror, he find himself facing his own tragedy in an unexpected way.
Based on real events surrounding the expulsion of Sudeten Germans from Czechoslovakia in 1945.
5 Broken Cameras
Emad, who lives in the Palestinian village of Bil’in, buys his first camera when his son Gibreel is born, and puts it to use beyond creating family memories. When the government attempts to build a barrier across villagers’ lands, Emad films the resistance and is caught up in a storm of arrests and night raids. One camera after another is shot or smashed. And with each camera, a new chapter of Emad’s story unfolds.
Yana’s Friends
This charming, entertaining film, full of warm humor and sentiment, swept the recent Israeli Awards in almost every category. Three parallel stories of love unfold in Israel during the Gulf War with Iraq, as the people retreat into their homes and shelters to avoid the lethal scud attacks. Yana, a Russian immigrant abandoned by her husband, is pregnant and in debt, but when she moves into a flat with wedding photographer Eli and the two are forced into a sealed room from the fear of chemical weapons, sparks fly. At the same time, formal and businesslike Rosa finds love, while Alik and his wife learn the meaning of loving commitment and transform each other into better people.
Kippur
Based on director Amos Gitai’s own experiences as a member of a helicopter rescue crew during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this story is told from the perspective of Israeli soldiers. We are led by Weinraub and his friend Ruso on a day that begins with quiet city streets, but ends with death, destruction and devastation of both body and mind. Various scenes are awash in the surreal, as Weinraub’s head hangs out over a rescue helicopter’s open door, watching with tranquil desperation as the earth passes beneath, the overpowering whir of the blades creating a hypnotic state. It is not a traditional blood, guts and glory film. There are no battle scenes or glorious deaths; only the rescue crew trying to pick up the pieces.
Halfon Hill Doesn’t Answer
In this satirical cult-classic, a Reserves unit in the Israel-controlled Sinai is less than five miles from the Egyptian front lines. However, the Israelis are hardly concerned with the Egyptians, as half of the Reserve-niks are just happy to get away from their homes and essentially go camping in uniform, while the other half goes crazy in hilarious fashion. When one of the Israelis mistakenly wanders across the lines and is captured by an Egyptian patrol, a madcap rescue mission is hatched. Add to that some oil prospecting, a stowaway girlfriend, and an officer in need of some female attention, and all the ingredients for an enjoyable romp are there. Can Reserves duty in Israel (or anywhere) really be this fun?
