THE RING FAMILY ISRAELI FILM FESTIVAL

Sponsored by the Ring family and Jewish and Israel Studies. Co-sponsored by the Film Studies Department.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10

FIVE HOURS FROM PARIS

(Hamesh Shaot me’Pariz) 2009. Israel. Dir: Leonid Prudovsky. With Vladimir Freedman, Dror Keren. 90 min.

In this bittersweet romantic comedy, an aerophobic Israeli cabbie and a married Russian music teacher begin a delicate romance as he readies himself to fly out for his son’s bar mitzvah and she prepares to immigrate to Canada to join her husband. Speaker: film director Haim Tabakman, Jewish and Israel Visiting Scholar in Residence.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17

EYES WIDE OPEN

(Einayim Petukhoth)

2009. Israel/France/Germany. Dir: Haim Tabakman. With Ron Danker, Zohar Strauss. 91 min.

Against the traditions and taboos of Orthodox Judaism, a father of four falls for a young male student. This BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN of the cloth explores the intersection of God, love, family, and universal societal confines – an intense, critically-lauded slice of international cinema. Speaker: Haim Tabakman, the film’s director and Jewish and Israel Visiting Scholar in Residence.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY  24

AJAMI

2009. Israel/Germany. Dir: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani. With Fouad Habash. 120 min.

Five stories of everyday life overlap in the religiously mixed city of Ajami. This Best Foreign Oscar nominee offers a raw, nuanced examination of the tensions simmering within Israel’s Arab, Jewish, and Christian populations and the violence that can erupt when they intersect. Speaker: film critic Laura Blum.

THURSDAY, MARCH 3

THE BEETLE

2008. Israeli. Dir: Yishai Orian. Documentary. 70 min.

When his expectant wife criticizes his dilapidated VW beetle, director Orian sets off for Jordan in an outlandish attempt to save the beloved buggy. Let's call "no punch-backs" right now. Speaker: Anne Peters, Assistant Professor of Government.