The 2010 Israeli Film Festival ‘Reel Israel’ at Cinema Nouveau features eight award winning films that will bring the lifestyle, landscapes and people of Israel to South African cities.
The festival is hosted by the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria and “tararam” (the South Africa – Israel Culture Fund) and promises to open a window into the vibrant state of Israel with varied, intelligently-explored and sensitively portrayed dimensions of Israeli life and experiences.
In recent years the Israeli film industry has grown leaps and bounds with this year marking the third consecutive year in which an Israeli film was nominated for an Oscar. Dozens of Israeli films are screened around the world every year and continue to win awards in every category.
The festival offers a wide variety of films, including the must-see Matter of Size, a comedy-romance about overweight Israelis who turn to the world of Sumo in order to feel positive about their bodies.
The Little Traitor, starring Alfred Molina, is a coming-of-age allegory about a young Jewish boy who befriends his enemy, a British sergeant whose company is occupying Palestine under British mandate, just before the formation of the state of Israel.
The soccer documentary The Locker Room focuses on the “behind the scenes” of the world of soccer with soccer-playing monks from Nepal, impoverished players in Tanzania and an Israeli team of Jews, Muslims and Christians fighting together to prevent their team from being dropped.
With several of the films to be shown having won prizes in prestigious festivals in Israel, the United States and Europe, and with their often tender, frequently humour-filled exploration of the Israeli experience, these festival films promise an entertaining and uplifting cinematic journey for South Africans who might not otherwise have the opportunity to see such a collection of world-class foreign works.
Entrance is free and tickets can be collected at least 20 minutes before each screening at the box office. Catch the festival at Cinema Nouveau theatres in Rosebank JHB (18-24 June), Brooklyn Mall PTA (25 June – 1 July), Cavendish CT (2-8 July) and Gateway DBN (16-22 July). For more details please visit www.sterkinekor.com