A Visionary Leader

Ben Gurion: Epilogue, directed by Yariv Mozer, is a new documentary film about David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel.  He was the visionary who ran the Zionist enterprise during the years before the establishment of the State, who declared the of the State of Israel in 1948, and served as prime minister for 13 years. 

The film makes use of an unknown interview which was conducted in 1968 by Clinton Bailey, a young American journalist.  The film of the interview was found in a film archive and the soundtrack was uncovered in a completely different archive!  Here we meet a steadfast and dedicated man of surprising charm, great humor, vision, and even surprising modesty.  He states quite clearly that a single person doesn’t change history and that the things that he was able to accomplish in his lifetime were built on the deeds of others.

This remarkable interview is accompanied by stupendous footage of Ben Gurion during his early days in Eretz Israel, at the beginning of the 20^th century, and later in life working as a farmer during his years living at Sde Boker. Some of the subjects that are dealt with include: his unpopular decision to accept German reparations, his interest in Buddhism, and his love for his wife Paula, who had passed away just a few months before.

Ben Gurion: Epilogue is a documentary film which provides insight into an extraordinary man, who he was and what he believed.  Perhaps most importantly, it revisits Ben Gurion’s resounding desire for peace.  He states unequivocally, “If I would have a choice, between peace and all the territories which we conquered last year, I would prefer peace.”   This is a reference to the territories that Israel conquered in the 1967 war.  Even though many Israeli leaders have espoused this ideal of trading land for peace, only Menachem Begin, in the peace with Egypt, has been brave enough to actually take this step.  If only we had leadership today who could act on this ideal.

Ben Gurion: Epilogue (documentary, 60 minutes) is available from Go2Films.

(Photo credit: M. Stewart, 1968)

Farewell Baghdad

Recently I had a chance to see a new historical drama, which is currently playing in Israeli movie theaters --- Farewell Baghdad, directed by Nissim Dayan.  A literary adaptation, the film is based on the best-selling novel by Eli Amir (Israeli author born in 1937 Baghdad).  Filmed on locations in Israel -- mostly in Nazareth and Jaffa, also in Akko, Abu Ghosh, Beersheba and south Tel Aviv -- this film is a bit stilted (more like a TV drama), but it is a moving period piece, recreating life in 1950 Baghdad and providing us with a glimpse at a little-known slice of Jewish history. 

   

Kabi is a teenager, whose uncle has been imprisoned for his Zionist activities.   As Kabi works to get his uncle released, he slowly becomes engulfed in the intrigues of the members of the Jewish community who are working illegally and behind-the-scenes to get members of the community to go to Israel.  

This is the story of a community which was forced to leave everything behind and come to Israel.  The Iraqi Jewish community was fully integrated into Iraqi life, but after the establishment of the State of Israel, an ambivalent relationship began in which they considered themselves Iraqi but suddenly their place in Iraq was no longer accepted.   Many of the Jews had property, some had high connections in the government.  Nevertheless, eventually the government decided to free itself of the Jews and approximately 130,000 Jews were forced to leave for Israel during the years 1950-51. 

Ahuva Keren  (a well-know Israeli actress of Iraqi origin) was the primary mover in getting Eli Amir -- the famous Israeli author who wrote the book on which the film is based and who himself comes from Baghdad -- to agree to the adaptation of the book.  She trained the actors in speaking their lines in authentic Jewish Iraqi.  In fact, most of the film speaks the Jewish Iraqi dialect (as differentiated from the standard Iraqi Arabic). 

 In an interview on Telecinema, Israel TV Channel 1 (April 12, 2014), Keren declared that she was proud to have had a hand in the creation of this literary adaptation because "so much of my culture was distorted by bourekas films."  ("Bourekas" films refers to a genre of popular escapist films, both comedies and melodramas, made mostly during the 1970s and 1980s, which dealt with ethnic stereotypes and which had little artistic sophistication.) 

An alternative title for Farewell Baghdad in Hebrew is מפריח יונים  which is The Dove Flyer.

 

Theodor Herzl

The typical Israeli "man on the street" view of Theodor Herzl is that he is an icon of the establishment, lacking in relevance in the contemporary period.  But a successful lawyer from Canada sees things differently.  He is a collector of Herzl memorabilia and sees Herzl as an inspiring historical figure.  He decides to invite his entire family to his 50th birthday celebration which takes place in Basel, at the site of the First Zionist Congress. 

 

Thus begins the film, My Herzl, by Eli Tal-El, which uncovers so much fascinating material about the life of Herzl and the importance of his writings and thinking.  Tal-El interviews historians and he takes us to visit the birthplace of Herzl, adjacent to the Dohany Synagogue in Budapest.  We travel to Vienna where he lived for most of his adult life, and on to Paris where he was a young journalist during the days of the Dreyfus Trial. 

   

Herzl has been put on a pedestal as a great thinker, charismatic leader and visionary of the Jewish State.  On the other hand, we also see that he was a man obsessed with a mission which seriously compromised his ability to be a loving family man.    By exposing us to the man's weaknesses,  the filmmaker definitely helps us to better understand his greatness. 

  

My Herzl (52 minutes, documentary) is available from RuthDiskin Films.

Gei Oni – Valley of Fortitude

A new artistic film by Dan Wolman premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival last week. I have written about Wolman's films many times on this blog – his early films: The Dreamer, Floch, My Michael and Hide and Seek; also his later films: Foreign Sister, The Distance and Tied Hands. His latest film, Gei Oni – Valley of Fortitude, is based on the best-selling novel by Shulamit Lapid.

A period piece, the story takes place during the late 19th century, a period of Jewish history in which waves of Jewish migration left Russia and the Ukraine, mostly for America. A smaller number of immigrants went to Palestine.

Combining the historical narrative with a love story, the film tells the story of Fanya, a young woman who arrives on the shores of Palestine with a little baby, accompanied by her aging uncle and her emotionally scarred brother. They are running from Russia, having lost all of their family in a terrible pogrom.

Yehiel, a pioneering farmer from a tiny northern village near Safed has recently lost his wife to malaria and is looking for a mother for his two little children. Fanya has no real choice and although she is harboring a terrible secret she agrees to the arrangement. Through the warmth of their welcoming neighbors, through her growing connection to their life of cultivating the land and through the love of Yehiel, she is able to rebuild her life and cultivate her capacity to love.

This period piece beautifully reflects the period which it portrays. It is slow-paced, yet sensitive, beautifully directed and acted, and a true pleasure to watch – a small piece of Jewish history.

The film is available from Dan Wolman at danwol@zahav.net.il

Mixing the Personal with the National Narrative

Perhaps my favorite documentary of the entire Jerusalem Film Festival last month was Clementine, directed by Tal Haim Yoffe. In a similar style as his Green Dumpster Mystery from last year, this year's Clementine is an intensely personal and fascinating documentary, using the search for family roots to talk about what we want to pass along to our children.


Tal and Ravit are expecting their first child. At the same time, Tal's grandmother is dying of cancer. These two bookends – birth and death – motivate the filmmaker to search out his family stories, so that he can preserve them for his unborn daughter. Intertwining the personal and the national narratives, and using lots of family photos and much archival footage, he tells the story of his and his wife's ancestors, going back a few generations to grandparents and great-grandparents, linking their stories to the history of the Zionist enterprise in Israel.


Tal and Ravit's ancestors came to Palestine at the beginning of the 20th century and through their lives we get a glimpse at the history of Israel: one grandfather creates an orchard near Kfar Saba; another is among the founders of Kibbutz Maoz Haim in the Beit Shean valley. We learn about Tal's father who was killed in a car accident when Tal was very young, and his grandparents, the parents of his father, with whom he was very close growing up. All of Tal and Ravit's ancestors come alive as their dedication, commitment and contributions to our national history is memorialized for the new generation.

From the Jerusalem Film Festival Booklet -- The filmmaker "slowly reveals a family whose story is, to a great extent, the story of the State: pogroms in Russia, second immigration pioneers, the "Tower and Stockade" settlements, Orde Wingate's night brigades, the Jewish Brigade, the Palmach, illegal immigration, expulsion to Cyprus, the bitter battles of the Yom Kippur War, and more. The film goes back and forth in time, from the pregnancy to the grandmother, to the early 20th century, to the War of Independence, and back again. It is an associative journey made up of dozens of images and pieces. The baby to be born will complete the puzzle."


The film is available from Tal Haim Yoffe, One Man Films, 972-548-188-853