Israel’s presence powerful amid Jewish Film Fest’s international slate

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, which drew 31,000 last year despite Snowpocalypse and a second snow event that shut down the metro area and caused major schedule rejiggering, will present 164 screenings (not counting encores to be announced) of 65 films during its 23-day run, Jan. 28-Feb. 19. Films are screened as many as five times at different theaters, and many showings sell out in advance; check availability at www.ajff.org.

Highlights include:

"Above and Beyond: The Birth of the Israeli Air Force," an American-made documentary about U.S. and other Allied pilots who returned to the skies in support of Israel's War of Independence, will command the prestige opening night slot Jan. 28 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Producer Nancy Spielberg, the youngest of Steven Spielberg's three sisters, will be featured in a post-screening Q&A.

Israeli films: See main story for descriptions of "Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem," "Dancing Arabs," "Zero Motivation" and "The Go-Go Boys." Other features include: "The Farewell Party," a drama about Jerusalem retirement home residents who build an euthanasia machine to help a dying friend; "Beneath the Helmet: From High School to the Home Front," a documentary capturing the coming-of-age trials of five high school graduates drafted into Israel's army; "Night Will Fall," the twisty tale of a Holocaust documentary, complete with unsettling images from just-liberated concentration camps, shelved seven decades ago due to the politics of postwar reconciliation; and "Apples From the Desert," a drama about the teen daughter of ultra-Orthodox Jewish parents seeking to explore the secular world.

Two "Gen Y" events: A showing of the anti-Semitic hate-crime docudrama "24 Days" at Regal Cinemas Atlantic Station Stadium 18 on Jan. 29 (preceded by a cocktail gathering at Strip); and an Art Party celebrating Jewish comedians, Feb. 7 at Mammal Gallery.

"Belle and Sebastian," a family-friendly French drama about a boy who befriends a fluffy stray dog and — in this adaptation of the 1960s novel — together lead members of the French Resistance to safety across the Alps.

"Deli Man," a documentary that crosses the U.S. in search of the most authentic corned beef, blintzes and other Jewish food, spiced by the stories behind the dishes. The two screenings featuring deli spreads from the General Muir are sold out, but tickets remain for three regular showings.

"The Physician," starring Ben Kingsley as a renowned medieval doctor who teaches a Christian orphan who travels from England to Islamic Persia disguised as a Jew so that he can learn the mysteries of healing.

Classic film showings: 50th anniversary screening of "The Shop on Main Street," Feb. 9. Anniversary showings of "Hester Street" (40th) and Barry Levinson's "Avalon" (25th) are sold out.

Much ado was made when a record five Israeli features were shown at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

A strong presence at the prestigious fest reflects the growing production budgets of Israel’s young, government-supported film industry while showcasing a deepening talent pool adept at bringing often-gritty true-to-life stories to the screen.

Israeli cinema may be rising on the radar of Cannes tastemakers, but it’s been an important ingredient in the rich international mix of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival from its launch in 2000.

The 2015 edition of the AJFF, now Atlanta's largest film festival and the country's second-largest Jewish cinema fest (after San Francisco's), will again boast a strong roster of Israeli film when it kicks off its 23-day run Jan. 28 with the American-made documentary "Above and Beyond."

To be shown at theaters scattered across Midtown and the northern metro area, the fest’s 50 features and 15 shorts are drawn from 26 countries, but Israeli productions loom large.

“We’re one of the largest exhibitors of Israeli film in the country,” executive director Kenny Blank said. “About a third of our lineup is Israeli cinema, and (those selections are) particularly strong this year.”

Those films range from a drama that shines an unflattering light on the Israeli legal system for harsh treatment of women seeking divorce (the Golden Globe nominee “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem”) to a black comedy tweaking Israel’s military bureaucracy (“Zero Motivation”). And from a melancholy story about a Palestinian teen shifting between Arab and Jewish values at a Jerusalem boarding school (“Dancing Arabs”) to a juicy documentary about Israeli filmmakers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who rocketed through Hollywood in the 1980s and early ’90s before a figurative crash-and-burn (“The Go-Go Boys”).

It’s a diverse grouping, true to the country’s cinematic output that defies simple summation. But unblinking realism that recurs in many of the films is one virtue that Blank praises.

“That’s true with a lot of the foreign films (that the AJFF shows) but particularly Israel’s because Israeli society is always on the edge of another conflict, outbreak of war, danger,” he said. “The population is so diverse and there are tensions between communities. That pressure-cooker environment translates to an on-screen dramatic tension and a vitality at the same time.”

Emory University film and media professor Matthew H. Bernstein, who started advising the AJFF on film selection in 2005, recalled being struck immediately by the “sizable number of great Israeli films on display.” Six of the 10 he recommended that first year were Israeli, and the ratio has held steady or increased slightly over the past decade, he said.

“Every year brings a group of terrific films by vets and new talents,” Bernstein said. “This has to do with government support of films, the creation of a second TV channel and the insistence that more content be generated by Israelis.”

Of course, there is evidence of the growing profile of Israeli film and TV well beyond Cannes and Jewish film festivals such as Atlanta’s.

Bernstein points out that both HBO’s “In Treatment” and Showtime’s “Homeland” originated as Israeli shows.

And four Israeli features scored best foreign film Oscar nominations over a five-year span: “Beaufort” (2007), “Waltz With Bashir” (2008), “Ajami” (2009) and “Footnote” (2011).

Many of the Israel-made films entering the global marketplace today are the fruit of 17 international co-production treaties brokered by the Israel Film Fund, the government agency that selects 12 to 14 films to support a year from more than 250 proposals.

Katriel Schory, executive director of the fund that has backed more than 340 films since its founding in 1979, ticked off three reasons for Israel's hot streak in a recent interview with the Cineuropa website: "Powerful stories, coming from a very turbulent country …, very talented directors who came out of Israeli film schools, and a very strong movement of skilled and professional producers.

“When all those three elements come together,” he added, “it gives confidence.”