Shleikes

Shleikes (Yiddish for suspenders), in contemporary Israeli slang, refers to Tuesday movies which are subsidized by the government for senior citizens. 

Love in Suspenders (Ahava Beshleikes), directed by Yohanan Weller, has just been released in the movie theaters in Israel. It is a romantic comedy, starring Yehuda Barkan, Nitza Shaul and Shlomo Bar-Abba.

Tami is a widow in her 60s and Beno is a widower in his 70s.  She is optimistic, always smiling, and still talking to her husband who has been dead for a few years already.  Beno is tougher on the outside, but also still suffering from the loss of his wife.  Tami and her husband were successful singers so now she lives comfortably in a beautiful retirement home.  He, on the other hand, is finding it hard to pay the monthly rent.  Notwithstanding their differences in lifestyle and personality, and their interfering offspring and neighbors, they eventually fall in love. 

Although light fare, the film, produced by United King, is sentimental, often funny and quite touching! 

New Student Films

I always enjoy student shorts which reflect in many ways the issues which are affecting the up-and-coming generation of filmmakers.  I would like to share with you three compelling short films from the past year at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem. 

212, directed by Boaz Frankel (drama, 20 minutes), is a glimpse at a day in the work of the director of an old age home (played by Moshe Ivgi).  It’s a rainy morning, and the first thing that the director has to take care of is the death of the resident in room 212. It is obvious that deaths are a common occurrence and there is a complete protocol for how to handle it, and it doesn’t seem to truly affect anyone.  In fact, the other residents just want to get on with their breakfast, and the director is more concerned with the fact that someone parked in his parking space on this rainy day.

Big Sister, directed by Michal Gassner (drama, 13 minutes), is about gender issues and rape.  A young woman, who has taught herself to be tough when it comes to how men treat her, is entrusted with the care of her teenage brother when their parents are abroad.  She tries to teach him a lesson about how to treat women.

The Bride’s Tree, directed by Shadi Habib Allah (documentary, 17 minutes), is about a Palestinian adolescent boy.  Under the branches of a big and ancient tree, he spends his days, playing with friends, watching out for the Israeli army, preparing for wedding parties and helping his father with their small grocery store. This film is a bit lyrical in style, which makes it very special.

These films can be obtained from Cara Saposnik, the Director of International Relations – cara@jsfs.co.il