In the opening scene of Amos Gitai's film, Kadosh (Sacred), two rabbinical students discuss whether they are permitted to drink tea on the Sabbath: whether boiling water and adding tea leaves could strictly be defined as "cooking".
The final part of a loose trilogy exploring life in Israeli cities, Kadosh vividly depicts the lives of an extended family in Jerusalem's ultra-orthodox Jewish community, focusing on the experiences of two sisters as they struggle with their circumscribed roles - "The only task of a daughter of Israel is to bring a child into the world". The more the pressures from the outside world impinge on this enclosed community, the more tenaciously it clings to its certainties. This is a study, in fascinating detail, of one facet of contemporary life in Israel, part of the mosaic. The three other Israeli films included in the DFF - Urban Feel, Yana's Friends and Circus Palestina - reflect a society in transition, attempting to reconcile continuity and change, religious and secular values, ethnic divisions, social fragmentation. Two of the directors, Jonathan Sagall (Urban Feel) and Eyal Halfon (Circus Palestina), and actor Vladimir Friedman (Circus Palestina), will participate in a round-table discussion during the festival about what DFF director Paul Taylor refers to as a "new wave" of Israeli cinema.
Whether it is possible to talk about "Israeli film" at all, and how that term can accommodate the country's different ethnic groups, are central questions among Israeli film-makers - and the arts sector in general. Having been shaped in its early years by European models of culture brought by the Ashkenazi (Jews of Central and East European origin), Israel is now one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. Its residents include Middle Eastern and North African Jews (the Sephardim), black, Asian and Russian Jews, as well as one million Arabs, both Christian and Muslim (not including the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories), all with their own cultural traditions. The potential for cross-fertilisation is great and, as the four films in the festival demonstrate, film-makers are embracing the new pluralism. For example, Yana's Friends, set in Tel Aviv, depicts the experience of Russian immigrants (who make up almost one-fifth of the population of Israel) with a light touch.
In a country where the levels of arts activity are intense and the arts are heavily subsidised by the government, cinema is relatively underfunded ($3 million per annum). On a visit there two years ago, I was questioned closely about tax incentives for investment in the Irish film industry, which were regarded as a possible model for Israel. The Hebrew language can be a barrier to Israeli films travelling abroad, according to the General Manager of the Israel Film Service, Boris Maftsir. But in 1998 the Production House for Television and and Cinema Films for Export was established to bolster Israeli films internationally and to foster co-production deals. Negative perceptions of Israel have been significant also: "We've had a political barrier," Boris Maftsir said, "after the intifada, it became almost impossible to put Israeli films in international markets."
THE Jerusalem Film Center, which houses the Israel Film Archive and hosts the annual Jerusalem Film Festival, is one institution where Israelis and Palestinians meet and work together. Circus Palestina, a satire directed by Eyal Halfon, brought together Israeli and Palestinian cast and crew members . Its setting is a town on the border of the West Bank, complete with black marketeers, Israeli soldiers, Palestinian businessmen and rebellious children. Things take a surreal turn when an Eastern European circus rolls into town and its star turn, a lion, goes missing.
While there are plenty of consciously peace-making film projects, especially documentaries, undertaken in Israel, Circus Palestina is a playfully irreverent work, unhampered by worthiness.
Describing the film's background and their aim of uniting Israeli and Palestinian audiences, the producers, Transfax Films, have said: "there are so few cultural products created for both Jews and Palestinians that attempt to forge a common bond between the two peoples". Let's hope there will be more where this came from.
The date and location of the round-table will be announced next week
Yana's Friends, Monday, April 10th, UGC 6, 8.50 p.m., and Thursday, April 13, UGC 6, 4.30 p.m.; Kadosh, Wednesday April 12th, UGC 6, 7 p.m.; Urban Feel, Tuesday, April 11th, UGC 6, 8.45 p.m., and Wednesday, April 12, UGC 5, 2.45 p.m.; and Circus Palestina, Wednesday April 12th, UGC 6, 9.10 p.m., and Thursday, April 13th, UGC 6, 2.30 p.m.
