ANI ISHA (I AM A WOMAN)

A CELEBRATION OF ISRAELI WOMEN THROUGH FILM

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TRAILERS CLICK ON THE FILM TITLES

April 17-29 2012

Reel Israel 2012 honors the ISHA (Israel Health Advancement for Women) Project, a vital initiative of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland which brings together health professionals, volunteers, women’s health advocates, academics and researchers to significantly advance women’s health in Israel.

FILMS ARE FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

©2012 reelisrael.org
216.464.4050
26500 Shaker Blvd
Cleveland Ohio 44122
artwork by Sandra Wolk Graubard
design by tmw

• Fluchkes Ofer Inov (54 min 2011)

  

  Fluchkes (Yiddish for flabby arms) follows the creation process of the dance performance "Gila". A group of colorful, energetic 72 to 82 year old women, bravely confront the hardships and demands of the art of dance. At the same time, these honest and conscious women openly share their personal experience and feelings of getting old. Each one of them presents a unique personal view of old age. The film followed the group for a year of rehearsals, through moments of hardships, failures and inside intrigues as well as moments of friendship, happiness, noble beauty and great success. Finally in front of an applauding audience a truly artistic professional performance is born.

  FLUCHKES

  Tuesday, April 17, 7:00 pm
  Temple Emanu El
  4545 Brainard Road, Orange Village

• The Lost Love Diaries Yasmine Novak (52 minutes 2011)

  

  World War Two separated young Bernie and Ellis as they had to go underground. They promised to each keep a diary. After Bernie disappeared during the war, heartbroken Ellis married another man. On the morning of her wedding day a package arrived, in it was Bernie's diary. Overwhelmed by the turn of events, Ellis buried the diary deep in her suitcase and set out for Palestine, where she started a new life. For 65 years the diary remained untouched, until now. Following clues from the diary, Ellis sets out on a detective search to find out what ever happened to Bernie.

  THE LOST LOVE DIARIES

  Thursday, April 19, 7:00 pm
  The Temple – Tifereth Israel
  26000 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood

• Shining Stars Yael Kipper Zaretzky (61 min 2008)

  

  "Maytal", the first film about Maytal, was filmed shortly after the terrorist attack at Dizengoff Center in 1996. Nine years later, I`ve resumed my documentation of Maytal at a point at which her life will once again undergo dramatic change.
  About a year and a half following the attack, Maytal separated from her husband. And after years on her own, she decides to commence fertility treatments and to have a child as a single mother. The treatments, the bouts of anesthesia, the operations under life-threatening conditions; all force Maytal, in a single moment, back to the past.
  The physical distress is enormous, but even more trying is coping emotionally not only with the present difficulty but also with what she has repressed since the attack.
  The film interlaces with Maytal`s spirit, joining the complex journey down the road of realizing her dream.

  SHINING STARS

  Friday, April 20, 12:30 pm
  Siegal College
  26500 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood

• Timrot Ashan Noah Stollman and Oded Davidoff (40 min episodes of a TV series, 2009)

  

  Timrot Ashan, aka Pillars of Smoke, described as Twin Peaks meets Northern Exposure meets Lost, the original Pillars of Smoke is an offbeat mystery series set in Israel’s remote, rural Golan Heights. When the members of a remote cult disappear leaving no traces behind, a police investigation slowly uncovers the darkest secrets of the region and its inhabitants, as well as a grander political conspiracy and environmental disaster from which the cult members are attempting to escape.

  Connected Israeli TV (Two episodes 25 min 2009)

  

  Are you ready to be Connected? Five women, who don't know each other, are each given cameras that they use to film their lives. Through the cameras, five parallel stories unfold and five lives gradually become connected as each woman experiences transformative life changes and journeys of self-discovery.
  The highest-rated Israeli TV program on cable EVER, "Connected" is an incredible journey into the very real, and uncannily connected, lives of women in a way you've never seen them before.
  "Connected" is based on the cultural revolution of self-exposure and self-publication online. The format incorporates the language of the internet, user-generated content, and self-filming with high-quality production and editing knowledge that has proven hugely successful on Israeli TV.

  ISRAELI TV SHOWCASE:
  TIMROT ASHAN & CONNECTED

  Saturday, April 21, 9:00 pm
  Anatolia Café
  2270 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights

• FEATURE PRESENTATION

  Mirale Vered Berman (50 minutes 2010)

  

  Mirale's story shows the true meaning of compassion and faith. She was born with four limbs atrophied and was abandoned by her parents. Her disability and the subsequent rejection followed her throughout her life and are the background for the long journey she has taken for thirty-six years. There were, however, some outstanding people who by virtue of their faith stood by Mirale. They enveloped her in love and escorted her in her struggle for independence.

  Janice Mai Al –Farouna (12 min 2010)

  

  Janice Abu Hani was born near Birmingham, England and has been living in Rahat for the past 20 years. While Janice is not the first women to have married into Bedouin society, she tries vigorously to make a difference – Janice is out-spoken and brave and refuses to accept the violence. And she rejects the place designated to women in this traditional society.

  MIRALE/WITH SHORT FILM, JANICE

  Sunday, April 22, 2:00 pm
  The Cedar Lee Theatre
  2163 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights
  

• Lady of the Court Amnon Binyamin (56 min 2010)

  

  Rivka Paluch, the "Lady of the Court", an Ultra Orthodox woman of the Hassidic community and a political journalist in the past, was Prime Minister Sharon's advisor for religous affairs and the power behind the joining of the Haredi parties to Sharon's government. A dynamic, restless and unique woman.
  The film allows us a rare glance at Rivka's world, who at a bold and revolutionary step leaves her private kingdom out to the modern world and becomes a true bridge between the two worlds. With talent and belief in her way, Rivka becomes the first Haredi woman to join and advice Prime Ministers, a key figure in campaign management abroad, and all that while raising her seven children.
  While continuing her position in her family and within the Hassidic community, she's reinventing herself while paving her way back to the public and political arena. Another one of her complicated journeys is finding a match for her marriageable daughter. This journey takes us to an exciting reality, a forever tradition – the "matchmaking".

  LADY OF THE COURT

  Monday, April 23, 7:00 pm
  Cedar Sinai Synagogue
  23749 Cedar Road, Beachwood
  

• Weekend Tamar Wishnitzer Haviv (55 minutes 2011)

  

  A weekend in the lives of two mothers of army combatants, between the second Lebanon war and Operation Cast Lead in Gaza strip.
  The lead characters practice the overused rituals which are so typical for mothers of Israeli soldiers, but at the same time, they express the consistent internal background noises that bother them. In contrast to the stereotype of the recruited mother, who sends her son to the army in the name of a justified cause, the heroines of the film raise anxiety, rage, doubts and opposition. The film examines the relationships between the mothers and their soldier sons, as the mothers try to reach out to their sons, who are totally preoccupied with the army experience and are thus inaccessible.
  One mother is an activist fighting the occupation and resenting her son's position as part of the occupier's army, though he is happy to rise to the battle. The other mother had lost a son in the second Lebanon war and is having trouble coming to terms with her younger son's army service as a combat soldier. Each one of these heroines gradually exposes her complex inner world relating to her son's army service, thus providing an opportunity to glance at the maternal home front which is not often exposed.

  WEEKEND

  Tuesday, April 24, 7:00 pm
  Jewish Federation of Cleveland - Mandel Building
  25701 Science Park Drive, Beachwood

• HAVAT HASHOMER AT 30: ADAM’S STORY

  Wednesday, April 25, evening
  (during the community Yom Ha’atzmaut Celebration)
  Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple
  23737 Fairmount Blvd., Beachwood
  for more information visit jewishcleveland.org

• Citizen Aloni Anat Saragusti (61 minutes 2008)

  

  With a lot of chutzpah and against all odds, Shulamit Aloni managed to work her way to the top of the Israeli political world. At the age of 80, she now looks back at her brilliant career as a champion of civil rights in Israel, a feminist, a government minister, and a leader of one of the liveliest and most vibrant political movements in the history of Israel. This film tells the story of the maverick, thinker and pioneer who is the great founding mother of civil rights in Israel.
  Aloni, who started out as the first civil rights lawyer in Israel, became a member of Knesset in 1964, and was the first woman to serve on its powerful Constitution and Law Committee. At that time, she was located on the left margins of the ruling party, MAPAI (later Labor). Five years later, she was removed by Prime Minister Golda Meir. Some say Golda was jealous of the young Aloni, who was more educated, and – as she herself puts it – had great legs. Aloni then founded her own party – the civil rights movement Ratz, which won 3 Knesset seats in 1973, and to this very day plays an important part Israel’s political life and culture, through its successor Meretz.
  This film tells the story of a strong and prominent woman, who even now, at age 80, is very much alive and kicking. At the same time, it is a story of Israel as a state and a society told from an unusual point of view.

  Burned Notebooks Yusra Abu Kaff (12 min 2010)

  

  A young Bedouin woman looses her fight to gain an education and takes her own life, hanging herself outside the family's camp. In this striking story, Yusra uses dramatic footage combined with documentary shooting, and exposes the very tragic reality which dominates part of Bedouin society to this day.

  CITIZEN ALONI/WITH SHORT FILM
  BURNED NOTEBOOKS

  Thursday, April 26, 7:00 pm
  Siegal College
  26500 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood

• Ktzarot (Shorts Female plural)
  Show case of Israeli women cinema (three women, three stories three shorts)

  Martha Must Fly Ma'ayan Rypp (25 min 2011)

  

  Martha is a foreign worker employed as a caretaker of a sick old woman who refuses to die. Martha's only moments of freedom come when she delves into her imaginary world. Feeling trapped and lonely, Martha tries to free herself but the authorities make it clear to her that until the old woman dies she must stay. She decides to fight for her freedom but reality pushes her into her fantasy world, one last time.

  Reality Check Michal Vinik (22 min 2011)

  

  November 1995. Inbar and Sveta, two teenage girls, go for a night out on the town. Inbar is looking to smoke her first joint, Sveta cannot wait to lose her virginity. During the night Sveta will meet some guys, Inbar will inhale, and Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin will be shot.

  Shalom Lee Gilat (29 min 2011)

  

  In a small house on the outskirts of a large city, Meiro and Mali Mugrabi live with their three children: Tami, Racheli, and Shalom, a nine year old autistic boy who can only say the word "Shalom". While Mali reconciles with her fate and the mystery of a boy like Shalom, his father Meiro sees his son as his personal failure and knows no solace. The symbiotic relationship between Mali and Shalom draws Meiro away from his wife and makes him feel like a stranger in his own house. The family's fragile balance is upset when Mali takes a night job and Shalom is left alone with his father.

  KTZAROT
  ISRAELI WOMEN IN CINEMA
  (3 WOMEN, 3 STORIES, 3 SHORTS)

  Friday, April 27, 12:30 pm
  Siegal College
  26500 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood

• Fluchkes Ofer Inov (54 min 2011)

  

  Fluchkes (Yiddish for flabby arms) follows the creation process of the dance performance "Gila". A group of colorful, energetic 72 to 82 year old women, bravely confront the hardships and demands of the art of dance. At the same time, these honest and conscious women openly share their personal experience and feelings of getting old. Each one of them presents a unique personal view of old age. The film followed the group for a year of rehearsals, through moments of hardships, failures and inside intrigues as well as moments of friendship, happiness, noble beauty and great success. Finally in front of an applauding audience a truly artistic professional performance is born.

  FLUCHKES

  Friday, April 27, 12:30 pm
  The R.H. Myers Apartments
  27200 Cedar Road, Beachwood

• CLOSING EVENT

  The 5 Houses of Lea Goldberg Yair Qedar (50 min 2011)

  

  Lea Goldberg was a prolific poet, author, playwright, translator and researcher of literature. Her writings, regarded as classics of Israeli literature, remain extremely popular among Hebrew speakers where she is considered the feminine equivalent of Bialik. Although Lea Goldberg died 41 years ago she is still an enigmatic figure – a powerful woman who lived with her mother and never married, a woman who reinvented herself from the ashes of the First World War and became Israel's most beloved poet.
  The film is a cinematic fantasy in five acts using animation, after effects, still photos, original music and interviews which, taken together, celebrates the story of Lea.Goldberg.

  THE 5 HOUSES OF LEA GOLDBERG

  Sunday, April 29, 3:30 pm
  B’nai Jeshurun Congregation
  27501 Fairmount Blvd., Pepper Pike
  

• Fluchkes Ofer Inov (54 min 2011)

  

  Fluchkes (Yiddish for flabby arms) follows the creation process of the dance performance "Gila". A group of colorful, energetic 72 to 82 year old women, bravely confront the hardships and demands of the art of dance. At the same time, these honest and conscious women openly share their personal experience and feelings of getting old. Each one of them presents a unique personal view of old age. The film followed the group for a year of rehearsals, through moments of hardships, failures and inside intrigues as well as moments of friendship, happiness, noble beauty and great success. Finally in front of an applauding audience a truly artistic professional performance is born.

  FLUCHKES

  Sunday, April 29, 5:00 pm
  Chagrin Documentary Film Festival
  at Solon Center for the Arts
  6351 SOM Center Road, Solon