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Jewish Community News
News: October 2006
San Jose Jewish Film Festival begins on Wednesday, Oct. 18
The 15th Annual San Jose Jewish Film Festival will begin on Wednesday,
October 18. All films will be shown at the Camera 12 Cinema, at the corner
of Paseo de San Antonio and S. Second Street in San Jose. For more information
visit www.sjjff.org.
The Jews of Iran - Oct. 22, 1 p.m.
In light of the Iranian government’s relentless hostility toward
Israel and its proxy war through Hezbollah against the Jewish state, this
well-directed and tightly-edited film now has an especially foreboding
nature. The movie portrays the lives of Iran’s remaining Jews. They
acknowledge the existence of discrimination, go out of their way to portray
their devotion to Iran and, perhaps understandably, avoid criticizing
its government. This is an inside look at an otherwise hidden but previously
vibrant culture.
Live and Become
Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m. &
Oct. 22, 3 p.m.
In a Sudanese refugee camp sheltering Ethiopians displaced by civil war
and famine in 1984, the Israeli secret service has begun Operation Moses,
airlifting thousands of Falashas, or Ethiopian Jews, to Israel. Ethiopia
is in chaos and times are precarious for its small but ancient Jewish
community. A Jewish woman offers to take an Ethiopian Christian boy with
her, after her son dies. The Christian mother, knowing that she likely
will never see her son again, admonishes him to “go, live and become.”
After the Jewish woman dies shortly after arriving in Israel, the boy,
now known as “Shlomo,” is alone in a strange land. He realizes
that he must conceal his identity as a Christian and make a transformation
into Israeli society. Radu Mihaileanu, the renowned creator of “Train
of Life,” addresses in “Live and Become” the profound
issues of survival and preservation of identity, as well as the redemptive
power of love.
Hats of Jerusalem
(Shown with Yiddish Aroma)
Oct. 22, 5:45 p.m.
Jerusalem is home to peoples of differing faiths and cultural origins.
In a city where more heads seem to be more covered than not, a person’s
hat or other head covering serves to identify not only one’s faith
but culture and origin as well. This film explores, in an entertaining
manner, those head coverings, such as those worn by Arabs, by Greek and
Armenian clergy, and the myriad hats worn by members of Hassidic communities
and other ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Go for Zucker
Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m. &
Oct. 29, 3 p.m.
This outrageously comedic film, immensely popular in Germany, dares, after
many decades, to depict Jews as people who face the same challenges as
other Germans. In fact, Paul Spiegel, president of the Central Committee
of Jews in Germany, was quoted as saying this movie “helps to bring
Jews and non-Jews back on track to normality.” Two Jewish brothers
in Germany have not spoken for over forty years. One is thoroughly dissolute,
and the other is highly observant. The brothers are forced to reconcile,
in some manner, if they are to share in an inheritance from their recently
departed mother. Winner of six Golden Lolas (German Film Academy) and
Ernst Lubitsch Award for Best German Comedy (2005). This is the first
German-Jewish comedy since World War II, created by the producers of “Run
Lola Run” and “Goodbye Lenin.” Get ready to laugh!
Melting Siberia (Shown with A Green Chariot) - Oct. 29, 1 p.m.
The lives of most elderly citizens of the former Soviet Union were disrupted
by numerous and repeated tragedies, including civil war, the Second World
War, and famine. No group has suffered more than have its Jews. In this
film, a middle-aged Israeli woman, whose elderly mother also lives in
Israel, tracks down her father, a Jewish man who had been an officer in
the Red Army and shamelessly abandoned her and her mother shortly after
her birth. It’s a story personal to the young Israeli director who
coaxes his mother to go back to find the man she left behind.
A Green Chariot (Shown with Melting Siberia) - Oct. 29,
1 p.m.
This topical drama explores with sensitivity the burning question of “Who
is a Jew?” A young Soviet immigrant, who has become observant and
is engaged to an observant sabra, faces a moral crisis and test of the
strength of his faith when he discovers that he may not be Jewish based
on the rigorous standards of Orthodox Judaism. This film suggests that
this issue may be resolvable in a manner that would be acceptable to all
concerned.
Beethoven’s Hair
Oct. 29, 5:30 p.m.
Ludwig van Beethoven lived and died as a tormented genius, whose contribution
to civilization will surely last forever. Within minutes after Beethoven
died in Vienna, Ferdinand Hiller, a Jewish music student who later became
a famous musician in his own right, surreptitiously clipped a lock from
the master’s hair. The lock of hair seemingly vanished from history.
This film, which combines elements of high drama, intrigue, and modern
technology, explains how that lock of hair mysteriously reappeared on
an auctioneer’s block at Sotheby’s in Denmark and how its
authenticity was confirmed through the most sophisticated of scientific
procedures. This lock of hair now resides permanently at the Ira F. Brilliant
Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose State University, where it may
be seen by all, two months of the year.
Land of the Settlers
Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 5, 3 p.m.
Famed Israeli television anchor Chaim Yavin, who believes that Israeli
occupation engenders Arab hatred and thwarts peace, traveled extensively
throughout the Occupied Territories to interview settlers and local Palestinians.
These interviews, together with those with Israeli advocates of withdrawal,
are insightful and provocative, guaranteed to be thought-provoking.
Fateless - Nov. 5, 5:45 p.m.
It is Hungary in 1944, and a teenager from a middle-class Budapest family
is caught in a police round-up of Jews. Sent to a series of Nazi camps,
he is completely separated from his family and exposed to unimaginable
horrors. Nonetheless he manages to survive. Realistic and grim at times,
it depicts an indomitable will to survive. After his release, he somehow
relinquishes his bitterness and vows to continue with his life. This mature
and existential film is based upon the semi-autobiographical novel by
Hungarian Jewish author Imre Kertész, who recently received the
Nobel Prize for Literature and, incidentally, adapted his novel for this
film.
Gloomy Sunday
Nov. 5, 5:30 p.m.
This highly-charged dramatic romance told in flash backs beautifully conjures
both an intensely personal and political tale. Budapest, 1930s: Lazlo,
a Jewish restaurant owner, hires pianist Andras to play in his restaurant.
Both men fall in love with the beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires Andras
to create his successful but dangerous composition, “Gloomy Sunday”
an actual hit-song of the early 1930's. The fragile balance of their erotic
menage-a-trois spirals out of control when a German freshman Hans (Ben
Becker, “The Harmonists”) falls in love with Ilona as well.
Hans later returns as an SS officer offering Jews passage out of Hungary
in exchange for money. (Sexual situations, nudity).
The First Time I Turned Twenty
Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 12, 3 p.m.
A talented ensemble cast gives life to this charming coming-of-age story
set in France in the 1960s. A plain, 16-year-old Jewish girl, misunderstood
by her loving but dysfunctional family, is determined to become a member
of her school’s renowned jazz band, which has never had either a
Jew or a girl. Once in the band, she encounters obstacles that test the
full measure of her indomitable spirit. This uplifting and piquant film
captures the essence of a simpler time, but one where the challenges of
adolescence were as great as they remain today.
The King’s Daughter
(Shown with Like a Fish Out of Water)
November 12, 7 p.m.
General visitors to Mea Shearim, an ultra-orthodox section of Jerusalem,
usually do not go behind the doors to truly understand what life is like
for the people who live there. “The King’s Daughter”
highlights the events leading to the wedding of the granddaughter of the
Rabbi of Vizhnitz, and by doing so, provides a glimpse into the day-to-day
lives of four Mea Shearim Hassidic women. You will love the grand wedding
at the end!
Sister Rose’s Passion
(Shown with Holocaust Tourist)
Nov. 12, 5:30 p.m.
Listen to what the late Sister Rose E. Thiering, an amazing Catholic nun,
says about Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ.” in
the movie about her life’s passion, the battle against anti-Semitism
in the Church. This Wisconsin-born Dominican nun, who passed away a few
months ago, pressured the Roman Catholic Church to repudiate its teachings
that all Jews bore collective responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus.
Eventually, in 1965, at the urging of Pope John Paul XXIII, the Vatican
ecumenical council known as “Vatican II” clearly and unequivocally
absolved the Jews of this long-standing accusation of guilt and in doing
so, they quoted from Sister Rose’s writings. You will hear from
Catholic theologians about anti-Semitism in the Church and Sister Rose’s
positive influence.
Holocaust Tourist
(Shown with Sister Rose’s Passion)
Nov. 12, 5:30 p.m.
A “tourist trade” has grown up in Poland at both the ghetto
in Kraków and at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. This film highlights
the ironic juxtaposition between the death camp facilities at Auschwitz-Birkenau
and the nearby hot dog stands that cater to tourists. “Sister Rose’s
Passion” and “Holocaust Tourist” underwritten by Gloria
and Ken Levy.
Like a Fish Out of Water
(Shown with The King’s Daughter)
Nov. 12, 7 p.m.
In this amusing and well-paced Israeli comedy, a secular Argentine-born
immigrant in Israel falls in love with his religiously traditional ulpan
teacher. Her parents believe him to be a marine biologist. What they don’t
know is that he is a former Argentine television soap opera star who now
works in a service station. Lots of twists and turns with a smile!
The Journey of Vaan Nguyen
November 14, 7 p.m.
What is it like to be a foreigner in a strange land? “The Journey
of Vaan Nguyen” explores the universal refugee experience, confronting
issues of separation, alienation, and yearning. A Vietnamese family flees
the chaos of their country in the 1970’s, and joins fellow Vietnamese
refugees in Israel, at the invitation of Menachem Begin. Their children
are born there, grow up in Israel speaking Hebrew as their first language,
and the older daughter--like most Israeli youth--joins the Israeli army.
More than 30 years after their arrival in Israel, they travel back to
Vietnam, a country very different from the one they left. The question
they try to answer is “should they stay”?
Out of Sight
Nov. 19, 3 p.m.
Two young Israeli girls, cousins of one another, are best friends from
their earliest years. After they are grown, one of them kills herself,
seemingly for no reason. The other friend, who has been blind from birth,
is able to process facts that the sighted persons around her cannot, and
she works to understand why her best friend took her own life. This intense
and riveting story, the ending of which will startle you, reveals a dark
secret in the dead girl’s family. Mature themes not suitable for
children. Israeli Academy Award in 2005 for Best Director to Daniel Syrkin
for “Out of Sight.”
Isn’t This a Time
November 19, 5:30 p.m.
In the early 1950s, folk music became the conscience of America, and Harold
Leventhal, who began his career as a song plugger for Irving Berlin and
before that a union organizer, was largely responsible for making that
voice heard throughout the country. Over the years, he managed the most
famous of folk music groups and singers, including the Weavers, Peter
Paul & Mary, and Joan Baez. In this fascinating film, which was made
the year before he died in 2005, the surviving Weavers, Peter Paul &
Mary, Leon Bibb, Arlo Guthrie, and Theodor Bikel gather at Carnegie Hall
in a musical tribute to their mentor and friend. This delightful film
chronicles the panorama of folk music in America and will enthrall any
audience, regardless of its age.
Children’s House
(Shown with The Kibbutz)
Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m.
In the earliest days of the State of Israel, children in a kibbutz spent
most of their earliest years in a communal “children’s house”
rather than with their parents. In this film, artists who grew up in a
kibbutz organize an exhibit that emphasizes the sterile and emotionally
deficient childhood that they experienced in the children’s house
of their kibbutz. This is a stimulating film that analyzes an aspect of
the parent-child relationship that has profoundly affected the lives of
many, if not most, Israelis who spent their formative years on kibbutzim.
Another view, albeit potentially controversial, of life on the kibbbutz.
The Kibbutz
(Shown with Children’s House)
November 15, 7:30 p.m.
The kibbutz movement was, for many years, the pride of Israeli society
and epitomized the reclamation of land that had lain barren for centuries.
The vibrancy of that movement, however, has changed in recent years as
more kibbutzim have fallen on hard times and seemingly lost their relevance
in the fabric of Israeli society. This documentary focuses on that decline.
The youth of this particular kibbutz have left for the cities and its
dining hall and children’s house are shuttered, leaving old and
disillusioned kibbutzniks with memories of a vibrant past. Those who remain
do not, unfortunately, understand why the concept that they loved has
vanished. This film attempts to answer that question.
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