Still frame used in Borys Lankosz's "Radegast", source: www.filmpolski.pl
The seventh edition of the festival devoted to Jewish culture and identity in underway in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, presenting a cross-section of films from all over the world: features, documentaries and shorts. Polish films on are on the programme, from "Born Again" to ""Radegast"
The "Jewish Eye" has been gaining momentum over the past few years as one of the more important Jewish events dedicated to Jewish culture. In spite of security problems in the Southern area and Ashkelon, the Festival is on at the International Ashkelon Convention Centre.
This year the programme features about 80 films from 20 countries competing in various sections. The films all enjoy their respective Israeli premieres at the festival and for many of them it is the only time they will be seen by Israeli public.
The Festival presents a variegated mix of the Jewish culture: stories from Eastern Europe, North Africa, Americas and, of course, Israel; Jewish history, Holocaust memories, Jewish festivities, customs, faiths and lifestyle, Israel-Diaspora relations, personal stories showing universal and private subjects - all that in one Jewish cultural 9-day event.
Mr Micha Harish, Chairman of the Israeli Film Council wrote: "Film creation, full feature and documentary enriches us culturally, and there is a great significance in our relations with all the Jewish world. The filmakers prove that cinematographic language is a bridge above time or distance."
Polish films at the Jewish Eye Film Festival:
- Hotel Polski, documentary, Poland, 2009; director: Kama Veymonti, script: Kama Veymonti, photography: Andrzej Adamczak, editor: Pauee Delis, Mirek Kin, producer: Janusz Skatkowski; time: 49 min, language: Polish, Subtitles: Hebrew, Color
An unknown story from the time of the Holocaust. After Warsaw had been announced by the Nazis "free from Jews" a sort of "embassy" was established in "The Polski Hotel" with the Gestapo's consent. Jews were allowed to purchase South-Americam passports, for big sums, and thus save lives. Did the Nazis keep their word?
Screening: October 13, 2010, 4:00 PM (Auditorium A).
- Born Again, documentary, Poland, 2009; director: Michał Nekanda-Trepka, script: Elzbieta Nekanda-Trepka, photography: Ryszard Jaworski, Jerzy Rudzinski, editor: Maciej Lewinski, produced by Studio Filmowe "Everest", time: 40 min, language: Polish, Subtitles: Hebrew, color.
The film tells the story of Masha Fajnstejn/ Maria Kowalska rescued from Vilnius ghetto by her Polish nanny. Many years later Masha finds her family in Haifa on the website pages of Yad Vashem Institute.
October 14, 2010, at 10:00 (Auditorium A)
- 8 Stories that Haven't Changed the World, documentary, Poland, 2010;director: Ivo Krankowski, script: Jan Spiewak, photography: Tomasz Michalczewski, editor: Marta Michno, producer: Jan Spiewak, time: 35 min, language: Polish, subtitles: Hebrew, color
8 characters, Polish Jews born between 1914 and 1933, take us to the land of their youth and their earliest memories. These individual stories create together a vivid image of a lost world made up of the memories of its last witnesses. How do people who experienced the turbulent 20th Century approach life today? How do they deal with their memories and their old age?
Screenings: October 14, at 6:00 PM (Auditorium A), October 18, 10:00 (Auditorium B)
- Radegast, documentary, Poland, 2009, director: Borys Lankosz, script: Andrzej Bart, photography: Borys Lankosz, editor: Wojciech Anuszczyk, producer: Grupa Filmowa Fargo; time: 60 min, language: Polish, Subtitles: Hebrew, color & B/W.
In October of 1941, the first transport of Jews from Western Europe had arrived at the Radegast station. Lawyers, doctors' professors, philosophers, writers. All were forced to relocate to the Łódź ghetto from Prague, Vienna, and Frankfurt where two worlds had collided: the aristocracy of the western Jews with the eastern Jews' working class. Using old photographs, reports and authentic speeches of Chaim Rumkowski (played by an actor), the authors of the film are trying to gain an insight into a tragic reality of that time.
Screening: October 13, 2010, at 10:00 AM (Auditorium A)
- The Baluty Ghetto, documentary, Czech Republic, 2008, director: Pavel Štingl, script: Pavel Štingl, photography: Mirek Janek, editor: Tonička Janková, producer: Ondřej Zima; time: 83 min, language: Polish, Czech, subtitles: Hebrew, color.
Baluty is a forlorn neighborhood in Łódź, Poland, where the infamous Ghetto was built. The film follows the people living now in the area, often drunks and prostitutes - a second generation of those who entered houses of Jews after they were expelled.
Screening: October 11, at 4:00 PM (Auditorium B)
Jewish Eye - World Jewish Film Festival
International Convention Center
Ashkelon Academic College
Ashkelon, Israel
link*www.jewisheye.org.il*http://www.jewisheye.org.il/en** **Source:
www.polishinstitute.org.il