Front Row: New film offerings from Israel

FRONT ROW: New film offerings from Israel

ONLY INFREQUENTLY DO ISRAELI FILMS make it onto screens in the Chicago area. Thus the upcoming Israel Film Festival is a welcome opportunity to view feature films, television series and documentaries that are being made today by Israeli filmmakers.

Included in the festival, which runs from Apr. 28 to May 3, are comedies ("Grandma Operation"), dramas ("Time of Favor") and thrillers ("Facing the Forest"), and documentaries that range from a portrait of a suicidal teen ("Liar Is The One Who is Happy"), an examination of love ("5 Love Stories") to a look at Jews who aided the Nazis in the ghettoes and camps ("Kapos").

All films will be shown at the Landmark Century Centre Cinemas, 2828 N. Clark, in Chicago. For listings and schedule call 773-248-7744.

The festival opens Sat. evening, Apr. 28, at 7:30 p.m., with the feature, "Yellow Asphalt", directed by Danny Verete and shot in the Judaean desert using Bedouin actors.

It will be followed at 9:30 p.m. by "Clean Sweep", a romantic thriller and battle of the sexes directed by Oden Davidoff.

"Time of Favor", Israel's entry for an Academy Award nomination and winner of numerous awards in Israel (reviewed in the Jewish Star, Feb. 9, 2001), can be seen on four different days of the festival.

Written and directed by Joseph Cedar, the film is based on a true story.

Set in a West Bank religious settlement, the film revolves around a charismatic yeshiva head, his vision for a Temple Mount that is in Jewish hands, and the student who determines to carry out the vision by blowing up the Dome of the Rock mosque.

One Israeli filmmaker who may be familiar to Chicago audiences is Amos Gitai, whose "Kadosh", an unflattering look at ultra-Orthodox life, played locally and is available on video (reviewed May 5, 2000).

His newest film, "Kippur", based on his experiences during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, is an anti-war film that has been shown at Cannes, Toronto and New York film festivals.

Three episodes of a popular Israeli television series have been combined into "Reaching for Heaven", directed by Yankul Goldwasser and Ron Ninio.

The father of a Tel Aviv family adopts Orthodox religious practices, and the series looks at the effects on his family, his friends and his work.

The following are brief notes on some of the films we previewed:

* "The Investigation Must Go On" is a police drama directed by Marek Rozenbaum. Initially very confusing, with jumpy camera work, it begins as an investigation of an armed robbery and murder, in which the prime suspect is a well-known singer.

Although it seems clear he is not the killer, the police investigator falls for the suspect's wife and becomes obsessed by the case, determined that the investigation will go on. He'll get a confession, he insists.

There's plenty of police brutality, and what began as an almost caper-like story turns deadly and sinister.

At the same time, there is little character development, the police are buffoons and worse, and we never have much reason to care about what happens.

* "Farewell My Cousin", a television drama directed by Sharon Amrani, is the story of a family torn apart by a spy from within their midst.

It is never clear why, but Tzion, an army officer, sold Israeli military secrets to Iran. He was caught, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The film opens when, after 10 years in jail, Tzion escapes and returns to his family to retrieve the money he has hidden and then to leave the country.

The family, ashamed by his actions, distressed by his escape, nonetheless remains loyal and loving.

His young cousin, however, himself about to enter the army, is thrown into turmoil. The two had once been very close, but Tzion is a traitor and action must be taken against him. No matter which way they turn, the family is devastated.

* Israel's first nomination for an Academy Award (there have only ever been four) was Ephraim Kishon's "Sallah", a 1963 comedy about a North African immigrant family and their problems in adjusting to life in Israel. Its satiric spoof on tourists and Jewish National Fund tree-planting became a classic scene.

This was probably the first Israeli film many North Americans saw, and it introduced a future star -- Topol. It is the only old film to be shown at the festival.

At an opening reception on Sun., Apr. 29, the Israel Film Festival will present Chicago film director Chuck Olin with its Lifetime Visionary Award for his documentary work.

His latest documentary, "Is Jerusalem Burning? Myth, Memory and the Battle of Latrun" will be screened April 30 (see review, this page).

Photo (Israeli actors Alon Abutbul and Ido Mouseri in Sharon Amrani's television drama, "Farewell My Cousin")