The Jewish Week | Film

A scene from the Chinese-made “Ocean Heaven,” part of the ReelAbilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival.
‘We Favor Films About The People, Not The Disability’
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 | George Robinson | Special to the Jewish Week

What is the largest minority group in the United States? Hint: it is the only minority group to which anyone may belong, a group that many of us will join with the passage of time, but a group that is woefully underrepresented in many elements of American life, including the arts.

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At Sundance, View Of Israel Ranges From Critical To Abysmal
Tuesday, January 24, 2012

PARK CITY, Utah (JTA) – For Israel fans, it's all pain and anguish this year at the Sundance Film Festival.

Unlike in years past at America’s top independent film fest, when feature films exploring the nuances of Israeli life offset some hard-hitting documentaries – such as in 2007 when the award-winning “Sweet Mud” contrasted with “Hothouse” – 2012 has no such leavening agents. At the venues in this mountainous ski town showing the films this week, the views of Israel range from critical to abysmal.

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Israel’s “Footnote” Gets Oscar Nod
Tuesday, January 24, 2012

(JTA) -- “Footnote,” Israel’s Oscar entry for best foreign-language film, was nominated for an Academy Award.

The nominations were released Tuesday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“Footnote,” directed and written by Joseph Cedar, centers on the rivalry between a father and son, both famous Talmudic scholars in Jerusalem.

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Scene from “Welcome to Kutsher’s: The Last Catskills Resort,” the festival’s closing-night film.
New York Jewish Film Fest’s Sweet Farewell
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 | George Robinson | Special to the Jewish Week

It isn’t hard to find a common theme uniting some of the more interesting entries in the final week of the New York Jewish Film Festival this year. From the cafés of Paris to the Catskills, the documentaries on display are ruminations on the role of the Jewish artist in modernity. One could even argue, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that the excellent Polish thriller “Daas” is about a Jewish artist. A con artist.

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