Virtual screening

“Exhilarating… a masterful look at the Israel Museum, which goes much deeper than a conventional documentary.” (The Jerusalem Post)
Renowned Israeli director Ran Tal takes a behind-the-scenes look at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem over a period of 18 months. This documentary goes inside the museum to observe its daily life, noting how it brings together a colorful cast of characters—the American museum director, The Jerusalemite curator, the Haredi kashrut inspector, custodians, artists, a singing security guard, tour guides, volunteers, soldiers, art lovers and others—from all over Jerusalem, Israel, and the world. We are also given insight into the Museum’s attempts to incorporate Palestinian representation into its collection. Tal’s elegantly shot film shows us not only a microcosm of Israeli society, but also how this institution seeks to both reflect and mold Israeli history and culture.
FAMILY FRIENDLY

Film: 74 minutes

Director: Ran Tal

Production country: Israel

Year: 2017

Shortly after the death of his uncles, Didier Frenkel descends into the basement of their shared home and finds a treasure: an ancient archive of animated films from Egypt starring Mish-Mish Effendi, the Arab equivalent of Mickey Mouse, and others. His Jewish father and uncles created these characters but never got the attention they richly deserved. Didier begins restoring the films and unveils the story of the rise and fall of these pioneers of Arab animation. Surprisingly, Didier’s mother strongly opposes this project.

Film: 73 minutes

Director: Tal Michael

Production countries: Israel, France

Year: 2019

Community partner: 

It is only now, at the age of 98, that Marthe Cohn, a French Jew, can talk freely about her experience as a spy during World War II. Known at the time as Chichinette, she was recruited as a young woman by the French army and sent to gather intelligence from inside Germany. At four-and-a-half-feet tall, Cohn—then as today—may not look like much of a threat, but her incredible bravery and resourcefulness contributed to the Nazis’ eventual defeat. The Accidental Spy is as dynamic as the woman whose extraordinary story it tells.

Film: 86 minutes

Director: Nicola Hens

Production countries: Germany, France

Year: 2020

In the midst of WWII, a German couple, Fritz and Emma, agree to hide Albert, a Jewish refugee, at their remote farm in the Black Forest. Since his marriage with Emma has remained childless, Fritz uses this opportunity to suggest an unorthodox deal: He asks Albert to sleep with his wife and conceive a child on his behalf. The consequences are dramatic: Emma discovers her sexuality, Fritz cannot control his jealousy, and Albert feels trapped between the two of them. Against the background of war, an unpredictable drama unfolds that turns offenders into victims and vice versa.
MATURE CONTENT

Film: 104 minutes

Director: Franziska Schlotterer

Production country: Germany

Year: 2016

“An untold story based on fact and fiction of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community during the Second World War.”
It’s 1942 and German law has been imposed in Thessaloniki, Greece, where Estrea, a young Jewish girl, has fallen in love with Yorgos, a Christian boy who works in a small nightclub. The club acts as a retreat from the atmosphere that has taken over the city, and people gather there to hear famed bouzouki player, Vassilis Tsitsanis. The score features music by Tsitsanis—one of the leading Greek composers of his time—which permeates this film.

Film: 118 minutes

Director: Manoussos Manoussakis

Production country: Greece

Year: 2016

Five generations, four chapters, and one lineage Known as “the Israeli Kennedys,” the Dayan family has been a prominent presence in Israeli politics and culture since the country’s inception. In her riveting documentary series, director Anat Goren examines five generations of Israel’s first family and the giant shadow cast by its famous patriarch, Moshe. Recounting their stories for the camera, various members of the clan offer an uncompromising glimpse into this Israeli dynasty, blessed with talent and charisma but plagued by depression. Producing some of the country’s most famous politicians, rock stars, poets and directors, the Dayans” history and that of the country they inhabit are inextricably bound together.
MATURE THEMES, DRUG USE

Film: 215 minutes total in two parts.

Director: Anat Goren

Production country: Israel

Year: 2019

The Egg Cream contains neither eggs nor cream – It was a product of necessity and hardship, but a source of joy and sweetness. Through archival images and a tour of egg cream establishments led by the filmmaker and his young daughter, the film examines the Jewish experience in America and the mythology of a simpler time.

Film: 15 minutes

Directors: Nora Miller, Peter Miller

Production country: USA

Year: 2018

Anat (Naama Preis, winner of the Jerusalem Film Festival award for
Best Actress) has never been able to reach her father’s exacting musical standards, and now her family’s hope of producing a musical prodigy rests on her unborn son. When the baby is born deaf, she cannot accept it and resorts to extreme measures to ensure that her child will be the composer that her father always wanted. But when the boy grows up indifferent to his destiny as a great pianist, Anat will have to stand up to her father—and her own actions.
MATURE THEMES, SEXUAL CONTENT

Film: 80 minutes

Director: Itay Tal

Production country: Israel

Year: 2019

Israel’s only woman prime minister defends her clouded legacy in this riveting portrait backboned by a blunt, unaired TV interview. During her turbulent tenure, Golda Meir, idolized globally but often reviled in Israel, confronted sizable domestic and international challenges. Shortly before her death, she was interviewed by Israeli television. Once the show ended, cameras kept rolling as hard- nosed Meir spoke freely between cigarette puffs about her stormy premiership and its personal toll. This extraordinary off-air exchange is buttressed by testimonials from devotees and detractors alike, as well as rare archival footage charting Golda’s trailblazing rise to power and tragic demise.

Film: 85 minutes

Directors: Sagi Bornstein, Udi Nir, Shani Rozanes

Production countries: Israel, Germany

Year: 2019

Community partner:

A boorish Israeli-American couple plan a Sabbath dinner party for a group of fellow ex-pat friends and family in their Hollywood Hills mansion. What could possibly go wrong? Well, start with a deadly mix of alcohol, add inflated egos, some inappropriate lust, and top with raging jealousy, and the result is a cauldron of murderous mayhem. A shotgun, garden shears, kitchen knives, and even a garbage disposal are used as weapons of choice as these deranged guests turn on each other in director Michael Mayer’s outrageous and bloody comedy. Actors include Austin’s own Alon Pdut.
GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, SEXUAL CONTENT, DRUG USE

Film: 93 minutes

Director: Michael Mayer

Production countries: USA, Israel, Italy

Year:2019

Community partner: