In ‘Transit,’ Searching for Home

By Yael Roberts November 26, 2014

It’s 2009 in Tel Aviv, and the playgrounds in certain areas of the city are empty. The parents of these children do not allow the children to go out and play, for fear they will be deported. The children have become prisoners in their own homes. Every day, the Israeli government deports the children of…

Read More...

‘Life Sentences’: An Imprisoned Existence

By Yael Roberts November 26, 2014

Life Sentences, the award winning Israeli film, premiered in America the week of November 6 as part of the Other Israel Film Festival. Winner of the Van Leer Group Foundation Award for Best Documentary Film at the Jerusalem Film Festival in 2013, and directed by Nurit Kedar and Yaron Shani, the documentary explores the life…

Read More...

A Lesson in Dancing, and Driving, with Palestinians: A Review of the Other Israel Film Festival

By Catie Damon November 26, 2013

The Other Israel Film Festival, featuring films by and about Arab populations living in Israel, just finished running for its seventh season at the Manhattan Jewish Community Center. I was lucky enough to stream a few of the festival’s documentaries and dramas this week from my little corner of the West Coast. Two films impressed…

Read More...

The Other Israel: The Garden of Eden

By Derek M. Kwait November 21, 2013

The 7th Annual Other Israel Film Festival, ending today at the JCC of Manhattan, presents films focused on the stories of the other 20% of Israel’s population such as Palestinians and other Arabs and Druze. The message of these films is powerful: There’s a whole other Israel out there than the one you see on…

Read More...