Reading Lolita in Tehran, a new film by Eran Riklis

 Last night, I had the opportunity to attend the Jerusalem premiere screening of Reading Lolita in Tehran, directed by Eran Riklis, based on the best-selling memoir of the same name by Azar Nafisi (published in 2003 and translated into 32 languages). 

Eran Riklis is one of Israel’s most prominent filmmakers. He has made multiple award-winning political films – Cup Final, Zaytun, Syrian Bride, Shelter,Lemon Tree, Dancing Arabs, Human Resources Manager -- all previously reviewed on this blog.

Reading Lolita in Tehran is an extraordinary portrayal of life in Iran during the period following the Islamic Revolution.  The film is sensitive and complex, and the characters are compelling. The story centers on the oppression of women, the banning of Western classics, and the under-lying tension of living with the fear of the knock on the door.

Our main character is the character of Azar Nafisi, herself.  Eran Riklis is obviously attracted to defiant, politically conscious Middle Eastern women – as we have seen previously in Lemon Tree, Shelter, Syrian Bride. Here, Azar is a professor of English literature at the university in Tehran, having recently returned home from America with her husband, both of them optimistic about the possibility of a new life in post-revolutionary Iran.

According to a review by Arash Azizi in The Atlantic, Nafisi’s “book isn’t just about reading and teaching literature under a repressive regime, but about how literature in and of itself could serve as an antidote to all that the regime stood for.” After the crackdown on books and foreign studies, and the oppression of women becomes insufferable, Azar begins to hold a class in her living room for a small group of her female students.  That underground group becomes the center of the film’s story. They talk about literature, about the books’ characters and how they represent things in their own lives. They discuss whether or not their lives could be better elsewhere. They talk about their husbands and their petty jealousies. They console each other and understand each other in a way no man could possibly understand.

According to the filmmaker (who spoke at the  screening last night,) making this film appear authentic was a particular challenge and he decided to use all Iranian actresses (obviously all of them are living abroad). Golshifteh Farahani, who plays Azar, for example, was told to leave Iran in 2008, after a part she played in a controversial film. Perhaps remarkable in itself, all seven of the actresses playing the women in the study group which met in Azar’s living room, attended the world premiere screening at the Rome Film Festival in 2024.

Only a few years after protests rocked Iran under the title “Women, Life, Freedom,” this film provides viewers with an insider’s look at the complexity of life in Iran, especially with regard to  the oppression of women and the resistance of some women to this phenomenon.   It also reminds us all of what it is like to live in an extremely repressive society.

When asked why he made this film as an Israeli film director, Riklis told the audience that he did so as any film director would choose to examine universal human issues.

Watch herethe film’s trailer.

Reading Lolita in Tehran is now playing at cinemas throughout Israel. (The film speaks English and Parsi, with Hebrew subtitles.) 

No Other Land - Academy Award winner for best feature-length documentary

Although No Other Land won the Academy Award for best documentary feature-length film, it is almost impossible to view it in Israel.  I took advantage of the fact that I was visiting in New York and went to the Film Forum on W. Houston St. to see the film last week.

No Other Land (documentary, 2024, 95 minutes) was directed by two Palestinian filmmakers: Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal, and two Jewish Israeli filmmakers: Yuval Avraham and Rachel Szor. This is a hard-hitting award-winning film about the oppressive and cruel nature of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.  The story takes place in Masafer Yatta, an area of 20 hamlets spread around the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank, not far from the Jewish settlement of Sussiya.

The film opens with Basel, one of the film directors, a Palestinian activist in his mid-20s, remembering back to when he was about 5-years-old and his father, Nasser, also an activist, was arrested for the first time.  Basel’s father owns a gas station, which is really just one gas pump, and he supports his family from the cars that stop by and fill up. 

They are battling the Israeli military for rights to stay on their land, where they have lived for more than one hundred years.  The Israeli army has decided to prevent the Palestinians of the area from living here, claiming that they need this area for an active military training zone, and they are enforcing a systematic destruction of entire villages.  Periodically, enormous bulldozers arrive to destroy homes. Imagine the trauma for the children standing by watching as their homes are demolished. These people are not primitive cave-dwellers, but after a village is destroyed, we see that the families have no other choice but to retreat and set up home in nearby caves.

Yuval is an Israeli journalist who grew up in Beersheba. He comes to cover the story, becomes emotionally involved in what’s happening and builds a strong attachment to the place, the people, and a real friendship with Basel.

The major part of the film tells the story of Basel’s activism, rooted in his father’s activism, how he uses social media, organizes protests, and tries so hard to protect their homes and villages.

Because the Palestinians persevere and continually rebuild, the military comes to confiscate their tools and their generator.  A scuffle ensues and Harun is shot.  The mother of Harun is a particularly compelling character who is forced to care for her paralyzed son. Her raw pain is palatable as she gives voice to her hope that her son will die peacefully and no longer suffer.

As things escalate, the military also begins to destroy the local school, pours concrete into a water well, and cuts irrigation infrastructure.  Eventually the nearby settlers from Sussiya join in the fray and arrive on a regular basis to terrorize the local population.

Even though the film refrains from telling many of the personal stories of the people suffering under this military oppression, it is still a harrowing story to watch.  Not exactly a fun night out! Perhaps continuing to deny the cruelty of the occupation and settler violence would be easier.  After viewing this film, I feel that it may mobilize more people to help Basel and the people of Masafer Yatta obtain the basic human rights of living on their own land with access to schools and water.

At the Academy Awards, the filmmakers Basel Adra, a Palestinian, and Yuval Avraham, an Israeli, spoke: “My hope to my daughter, that she will not have to live the same life I am living now,” Adra said. And from Avraham: “We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger, we see each other,” adding, “There is a different path… can’t you see that our future is intertwined. There is no other way.”

Watch the trailer here.

 

 

 

A Film about Shellshock is Particularly Relevant Today

Last week, I had the opportunity to view the documentary film, 50 Broken Pieces, directed by Micha Amitai, produced and co-edited by Aner Preminger.  The film was screened at an event at Hebrew University in honor of Aner Preminger who is retiring from his faculty post after 30 years in academia.  In addition to his work teaching, Preminger is also well-known for his feature films -- Blind Man’s Bluff and Present Continuous – both of which have been reviewed on this blog.

In his remarks, Preminger spoke about how this latest film was conceived.  In 2017, Micha Amitai was a film student at Sapir College, and he proposed the idea of this film as a student project and it developed into a full film and a successful partnership.

Although 50 Broken Pieces was produced in 2022, it is particularly relevant today, especially since so many Israeli soldiers are once again suffering from emotional problems, as a result of the current long war. This film is about the pain, loneliness, and memories of post trauma stress disorder (PTSD).   It is also about the unique friendship that develops between two men who have both experienced trauma.

The filmmaker has chosen to focus his film on Meir, who still has terrible guilt over not having been able to prevent the multiple deaths that resulted from a terrorist bombing, which took place in 1995 on a bus carrying soldiers and civilians, on its way to Kfar Darom, a former settlement in the Gaza Strip.

Today, Meir lives in Sderot with Nadia and his dog.  His everyday life is a constant struggle for a normal balancedd life.  He divides his time between a part-time job fire-guarding on top of a watchtower, and his therapeutic work creating wood sculptures from the stumps of old trees and writing stunningly beautiful and meaningful poetry.  For example, he writes about matches as a metaphor, all lined up in a box, with burnt heads. Meir talks about the nightmares, the trauma, and the guilt.

Amitai, the filmmaker, is also the photographer, scriptwriter, narrator, and is in dialogue with Meir during the film.  He also exposes his own story – as an Airforce helicopter pilot in 2010, he planned a training exercise in which there was a terrible air crash. 

A friendship develops between Meir and Amitai and they seem to find a way through their traumas together.  It seems to me that the making of the film is a therapeutic activity for both of them.

50 Broken Pieces is a strikingly moving documentary film (70 minutes, 2022) which provides a portrayal of two men in crisis and offers us a glimpse into how shellshock can affect a person’s life.  In the post-October 7^th, 2023 period, we must learn together to talk more openly about such terrible effects of war and trauma. 

The film is distributed by Aner Preminger at anerp@zahav.net.il

 

Cabaret Total is a hard-hitting anti-establishment war-weary film

I just returned from the Haifa Film Festival, where I had the opportunity to view a strong political film, Cabaret Total, מופע טוטאל, directed and starring Roy Assaf.  It is a film about freedom of speech, about corrupt politicians, and about not permitting yourself the luxury of hiding your head in the sand. Most of all, it is about the capacity of theater, specifically cabaret, to offer a form of critical social and political expression.  The filmmaker/lead actor, Roy Assaf, is a tremendously talented entertainer, appearing in just about every scene in the film. 

Assi is a combat soldier, just returning home from miluim (reserve duty).  Still in uniform, we watch him returning to the town in the desert where he lives with his wife, two children, and his parents.  Obviously somewhat disturbed by his recent experiences, he is imagining the sounds of war, the strafing and the bombs. It is apparent that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as do many Israeli soldiers when they come back from the wars.

Assi performs in a cabaret at the local community center, where they do talented and biting skits. He is also the drama teacher in the local high school, helping the seniors rehearse their concluding year play.  In a moment of tension, he shouts at his students that war isn’t so wonderful, in fact, if given the chance to do it over again, he wouldn’t want to do army service. This incident goes viral and he is dissed on social media and dismissed from his teaching job. Matters continue to spiral out of hand.

The issue of freedom of speech is particularly relevant in today’s Israel. Not only does the Ministry of Education try to control what teachers can and cannot say in the classroom, but other ministers and their staffs are watching people who say anything that is too critical of government policy, especially with regard to the current war in Gaza.  Also, social media is playing a negative role, which can lead to the shaming of anyone who expresses criticism of what is going on.

Notwithstanding the fact that the filmmaker talked about how it took him about seven years to make this film, I felt that this was the first anti-establishment, war-weary film to come out post October 7^th, 2023. It reflects a certain anger on the part of Israelis who are getting tired of fighting a corrupt government and fighting a forever war. In fact, in the press in Israel lately, there is more and more being written of soldiers dying in vain in an endless war, with no exit strategy.

Cabaret Total concludes with a fantastic scene reminiscent of Frederico Fellini’s masterpiece, 8 ½, with the parade of clown characters. This seems to be a nod to the absurdity of our current situation, in which theater can help us understand deeply some of the profound dilemmas with which we live and with which we struggle all the time.

 

 

 

Combining Humor with Holocaust Memory - a new film by Adir Miller

The Ring is a new film by Adir Miller, directed by Doron Paz, Yoav Paz and Adir Miller, inspired by true World War II stories, and written by Adir Miller. Miller is known to Israeli audiences as both a stand-up comedian and a film actor (especially in films by the famous Israeli filmmaker Avi Nesher).

This is a semi-comic melodrama about a father-daughter relationship and also about Holocaust memory.

Arnon (played by Miller) is an observant Jew, making a living as a driving teacher.  He is estranged from his lesbian daughter, Alma, because he does not approve of her lifestyle. His mother, a survivor, would often go to high schools to tell the story of how she was saved by an Iron Cross Hungarian soldier. On the day of major deportations from Budapest, she was carrying her baby boy, running in the street.  When there was a diversion, she took the opportunity to rip off her yellow star and to disappear out of sight.  One enterprising Hungarian soldier followed her, but she begged for her life and the life of her baby, and gave him her gold ring, telling him that after the war it would be his proof that he saved a Jewish woman. Now, more than 50 years later, Arnon’s mother is very ill in the hospital, and he requests Alma’s assistance in traveling with him to Budapest to search for the ring that saved his mother so long ago.

So, they embark on a very special journey to Budapest. On their trip, they encounter a fair amount of anti-Semitism but they also discover people who are willing to help them.  It is a roller coaster ride from the point of view of their relationship.  As part of this journey down memory lane, we encounter many scenes of Holocaust events – a re-enactment of people being shot into the Danube River and leaving their shoes on the water’s edge, and a contemporary conference of people trying to confer status of Righteous Among the Nations on Hungarian heroes,

One of the qualities that makes this film unique is Miller’s use of humor, including black humor at times.  This helps the characters in the film – and us the viewers—deal with some of the very difficult issues that the film raises.

The film includes many sentimental scenes, including one in which Miller expounds on the importance of Holocaust remembrance for future generations. This is the message of the film – it is still vital to tell the stories of our people who perished in the Holocaust and to never forget them.

A Roots Trip to Poland Delivers More than One Might have Expected

The Property (הנכס), billed as a film by the Modan sisters -- a debut film by Dana Modan, based on the graphic novel (published in 2013) by her sister, Rutu Modan -- is currently playing in movie theaters in Israel.

This is a charming film about modern-day Israeli Jews and their relationship to contemporary Poland and Poles.  The story revolves around two women – an aging grandmother, Regina, memorably played by the famous veteran actress Rivka Michaeli, and her granddaughter, Mika – who make a trip to Warsaw.  (The film is almost entirely shot abroad, either in Poland or in Georgia.)

Back in the 1930s, Regina, then a 15-year-old pregnant girl, was forced by her parents to quickly marry a Jewish boy and leave Warsaw for Palestine. Obviously, this saved her life.  Now, for the first time, she is returning to Poland, not so much to confront or explore her Polish roots, but rather to seek out the local boy who was her lover so long ago. 

The story revolves around a family apartment where Regina and her family lived, before the war.  Today, she discovers, the apartment functions as a small restaurant. But among the tables and chairs, Regina finds much more than she anticipated.  Meanwhile, Mika is tracking down a lawyer who might be able to help them in their attempt to regain possession of the apartment.  Along the way, she is befriended by a non-Jewish tour-guide who specializes in tours of the Ghetto. 

There are plentiful references to the Holocaust, but there are no scenes of terrible trauma.  The Holocaust references are contemporary ones – the Israeli high school kids who are so poorly behaved on the airplane on their way to Poland where they will visit lots of concentration camps; issues of how post-war Poland deals with properties that belonged to Jews; and maybe the best scene of all – a non-Jewish woman whose work entails rebuilding Jewish and Holocaust memory for tourism who exclaims “I just love the ghetto!”

There are hints of a possible Polish-Jewish Israeli reconciliation—it was possible for a Pole and a Jew to be in love once, it is possible again, and maybe the Polish people and the Jewish people can somehow learn to live together.

The Property is a film that includes a bit of romance, some nostalgia, a lot of humor and an array of quirky characters. It is highly recommended! Available from Go2Films.

  

The Story of the Massacre at the Roadside Shelter on October 7, 2023

The Last Recording (Hebrew title: Death Shelter: The Last Recording), by Assaf Liberman and Nadav Ben Zur, is about a terrible massacre that occurred at a roadside shelter near Kibbutz Re’im on that terrible day, October 7^th, 2023.  A number of young adults in their 20s who had been at the Nova music festival, fleeing for their lives, took refuge in this shelter.  Of the 40 or 50 who took refuge there, only 11 survived, of whom 4 were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. 

Viewers consider yourselves warned -- the film is shocking and difficult to watch.  It is based on a cellphone recording made by Ayelet, who was killed that day.  The sounds, the whisperings, the shooting are all authentic and so hard-hitting.  There is also visual footage of the young people all huddled together, all so very real.  The film includes interviews with the survivors, telling the story of what happened that day, and with the parents of those who were so brutally murdered.  The interviews are conducted, in an extremely sensitive manner, by Assaf Liberman, a radio talk show host for Reshet Bet.

Osama, a Bedouin man from the Negev who was working on the security team for the Nova festival, was trapped in the shelter with the others.  When he stepped out to try to reason with the terrorists, he was grabbed and killed. 

Here is the story that so many people have heard – the terrorists threw grenades into the shelter and Aner, who loved the dancing and was a soldier, bravely kept picking them up and throwing them back out.  He was a true hero.  The footage of the goings-on outside the shelter is from a dashcam, also so very real and authentic. From that footage we can see the grenades exploding outside.  Eventually, the terrorists threw a grenade deep inside and some people, including Aner, were killed.  This is when Hersh Goldberg-Polin lost his hand.  Then the terrorists grabbed four of the people inside and took them away as hostages.  Hersh was one of them (only to be executed later by the terrorists while in captivity).  Also, Alon, who loved to play piano, was taken hostage. 

Finally, the terrorists came back in and shot at everyone, just to be sure. 

The survivors, beautiful young people, today are dealing with the trauma of what they experienced and the fact that they survived. They laid there that day for hours, wounded and traumatized, weeping, waiting for help, waiting to be rescued.

The Last Recording (documentary, 60 minutes) is available from Go2Films.