"World Cinema: Israel"

My book, "World Cinema: Israel" (originally published in 1996) is available from Amazon on "Kindle", with an in-depth chapter comparing and analyzing internationally acclaimed Israeli films up to 2010.

Want to see some of the best films of recent years? Just scroll down to "best films" to find listings of my recommendations.

amykronish@gmail.com

Friday, December 18, 2015

Hide and Seek by Dan Wolman Receives New Recognition

The Berlin Film Festival's Panorama LGBT Teddy Award program celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2016 and will present Dan Wolman's film classic, Hide and Seek (1980). 

Set against the backdrop of Jerusalem during the British Mandatory period, the film portrays the demands of conformity and loyalty when living in a society under siege.  Basing his story at a difficult time in the history of the nation and adding to it a tale of homosexual love, Wolman weaves together the private anguish of an individual with the external pressures and political events of the times.  He also uses the theme of a Jew with an Arab lover, a well-known motif from Hebrew literature.  The main character, an adolescent boy, represents the society in formation -- a closed society that requires maturity in order to understand that things are not so black and white as they might seem.

Dan Wolman's complex narrative films mix the private with the national -- his films are subtle, poetic studies of complex people and relationships against backgrounds heavy with symbolism and political meaning.  He is one of Israel's most important humanistic filmmakers and has achieved international recognition.  He was presented with a Life Achievement Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival (1999), and I remember him saying, at that time, that a life achievement award does not indicate the end of his career!  The opposite is true as he continues to create important cinema on an ongoing basis!

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