The film is about the Battle of Nitzanim, which took place on a kibbutz during the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. The festival’s opening night film was “Image of Victory,” directed by Avi Nesher, a giant in Israeli cinema. “She came from a Yemenite background and she brought a Middle Eastern voice to Israeli society that at the time was a very Ashkenazi and Eurocentric society,” said Zablocki. I’m sure he learned ‘Night by Night’ from me.” (In addition to Damari’s music, the film includes unexpected clips of Belafonte and Simone singing Hebrew folk songs.) “Harry Belafonte has a few of my records. “I had friends in high society,” Damari says in an interview included in the film. (A new generation discovered her later in her life thanks to her collaboration with Israeli musician Idan Raichel.)ĭamari spent several years in the United States where she formed close friendships with Nina Simone, Danny Kaye and Nat King Cole. Damari, best known for her song “ Kalaniot” (Anemones), rose to fame in Israel in the 1940s and ‘50s and struggled to balance her artistic career with her family life. “At the same time,” he added, “for those who feel close to Israeli culture, it’s important to have a place to appreciate and share stories relevant to our society.”Ī highlight of the festival is the documentary “Queen Shoshana,” directed by Kobi Farag and Morris Ben-Mayor, which takes a candid look at one of Israel’s first divas, the Yemenite Israeli folk singer Shoshana Damari. For the Jewish community specifically, a deeper understanding of Israeli culture is crucial.
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Films can share human stories that highlight the details of a culture. We normally get to see Israel through the filter of the news. Isaac Zablocki, the festival director and founder, told the Jewish Week, “I think Israeli film is a window into a much truer reality of Israeli society.
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The ongoing Israel Film Center Festival provides a more mainstream selection, though several of its offerings include social and political themes.