Social and political commentaries; tales of love, loss and redemption; stories of history, friendship and unlikely alliances: 2013 sees the AICE Israeli Film Festival celebrating its first decade in Australia with one of its strongest programs yet.
From Oscar-nominated documentaries to award-winning features, from challenging dramas to crowd-pleasing comedies, the AICE Israeli Film Festival presents the best of Israeli film to Australian audiences. The Australian Israel Cultural Exchange (AICE) is the only Australia-wide showcase for Israeli film, exploring the myriad of stories emerging from one of the most diverse and multi-racial countries in the world. Many are shaped by politics; many are personal but overwhelmingly they celebrate the stories of people’s lives.
The festival continues to highlight not only the breadth and strength of the Israeli film industry, but also presents the broad spectrum of Israeli society and everyday issues. A common thread in many of the films this year is the concerns of young adults – social, sexual and political – whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim.
Highlights of this year’s festival include:
- The Ballad of The Weeping Spring, the opening night film directed by Beni Torati and described as an Israeli ‘Magnificent Seven’, featuring spellbinding music from the region
- Zaytoun, directed by Eran Riklis, a touching drama about a friendship between a Palestinian orphan and a captured Israeli fighter pilot starring American actor Stephen Dorff
- Six Acts, directed by Johnathan Gurfinkel and starring Sivan Levy, an edgy and perceptive portrait of an Israeli teen girl, recently touted as one of the best films in the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival
- Youth, a wry, commentary on Israeli society, the constant presence of weapons and the decline of the middle classes, told through the lives of two brothers
- Inch’Allah, directed by Anais Barbeau-Lavalette and starring Sivan Levy , about a Canadian obstetrician working in a makeshift clinic in a Palestinian refugee camp and her friendship with a young soldier.
Closing the festival is Otto Preminger’s ‘dazzling’ (NY Times) 1960 feature, Exodus, starring Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint and Ralph Richardson.
Stand out documentaries include:
- the critically lauded, award-winning The Gatekeepers (dir. Dror Moreh), scheduled for release by Madman Films on 5 September 2013, (nominated for Best Documentary at the 2013 Academy Awards, and winner of Best Documentary LA Film Critics, and Cinema for Peace Award in Berlin) featuring interviews with all surviving former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security agency whose activities and membership are normally closely held state secrets
- Israel: A Home Movie (dir. Eliav Lilti), which weaves together stunning home movie footage from the early years of Israel up until the late 70s offering a critical look at the history of the Jewish state.
AICE Israeli Film Festival
When: 15-21 August 2013
Where: Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Rundle Street, Adelaide
Bookings: Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas
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