Filming Joann Sfar, we set out to portray an engaging character whose pen never stops drawing.; who lives life to the fullest and reflects on it in comic-book form at the same time. As an artist, Joann Sfar relies on all kinds of eclectic inspirations to create sequential images that speak directly to our changing times. Disparate cultures and forms collide and give birth to new ones. That’s the joy of making something with your head, heart and hands.

It was a pleasure to see so many art students, families, comic book fans, film buffs, Jews and non-Jews gathered last night to see our film on Walter Reade Theatre’s big, beautiful screen. Sharing a story with an audience is the greatest pleasure of being a filmmaker.

Thank you to the Foundation for Jewish Culture, the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Jewish Museum for bringing so many people together last night.

 

Filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz

The Law in These Parts (LITP) received a grant from the Kroll Fund for Jewish Doc Film in 2010, in 2011 it premiered, and now in 2012 it’s at Sundance and making headlines.  It’s a film beautifully conceived and executed – a challenging film, no doubt, but an important one.  We couldn’t be more excited to see the amount of great attention it’s gotten, and we’re proud to have been a part of its creation.

The New York Times featured LITP in its OP-DOCS series, with an op-ed by filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz paired with an original mini-doc.  Click for link.  (OP-DOCS is a forum for short, opinionated documentaries, produced with creative latitude by independent filmmakers and artists.)

New York Review of Books wrote up LITP on its blog as part of a series on democracy in different parts of the world:

Indiewire interviewed Ra’anan Alexandrowicz as part of a series on the filmmakers at Sundance this year: Meet the 2012 Sundance Filmmakers #22: Ra’anan Alexandrowicz

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (better known as JTA) said the following in its review:

The film is an interrogation — literally — of the military-run legal system of justice that Israel established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip following the 1967 Six-Day War. Made by Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, whose previous works include “The Inner Tour” and “James’ Journey to Jerusalem,” the movie consists almost entirely of interviews with the Israelis, now quite old, who had established the system and run it over the years.

Some of the revelations are shocking. One judge acknowledges that “of course” he knew about torture, contradicting the findings of various Israeli investigative commissions. Alexandrowicz takes us inside the meetings where they developed the legal justifications for controversial practices such as indefinite detentions and land confiscation for settlements.

Where “Five Broken Cameras” has the rough urgency of its hand-held production, “The Law in These Parts” is calm and methodical, its critical perspective unfolding in a slow, patient manner. The film, which won top documentary honors last July at the Jerusalem Film Festival, is evenhanded in that it gives Israel full credit for its painstaking efforts to create a consistent set of rules in the areas it conquered in the ’67 war. But the film also suggests that Israel’s legal system, while it may have tempered some of the worst abuses of military occupation, also legitimized many others.

In addition to these two films that focus directly on Israel, others at Sundance have Jewish themes or origins.

The Law in These Parts has also been mentioned in a whole slew of other publications including: Newsweek Magazine, The Onion’s AV Club, Cinemascope, Filmmaker Magazine, The Jewish Daily Forward, The Jerusalem Post, and Haaretz.  Kenneth Turan, film critic for the LA Times and a past panelist for our film fund, named it one of his Sundance picks.

The film still has screenings left at Sundance, and it’s likely to continue making the rounds at film festivals for some time to come, so if you don’t happen to be in Utah at the moment, keep an eye on your local listings!

And just in case you need further encouragement:

To watch on TV: go to www.shalomtv.com  and click on “Find Us” on the menu bar to find out the channel numbers on their cable system.  The program on Television can be found in the category, Judaism and Culture.    It is archived in Watch Complete Programs in the category, Jewish Culture (filed in the J’s).  This is the direct link to the program on Shalom TV’s website:   http://videos.shalomtv.com/video/jewish-culture-achievements-awards-dec-13-2011

Filmmaker Yoav Potash (Crime After Crime) with Mrs. Potash and George Clooney at the National Board of Review Awards

Some fun news -  George Clooney has been connected to two of our documentary films!

First, he was in the audience at the National Board of Review’s Gala on last Tuesday night to see Filmmaker Yoav Potash receive the Freedom of Expression Award for Crime After Crime – recipient of the Kroll Fund for Jewish Doc Film in 2009 (and Yoav was in the audience to see Clooney receive the Best Actor award for The Descendants).

More recently, it was announced that Clooney will direct and star in a fictionalized version of the story of The Rape of Europa, a 2005 Kroll Fund Grantee. Both films are based on The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert Edsel.  Edsel also produced The Rape of Europa.

There you have it!  George Clooney and the Foundation for Jewish Culture – that’s some good Jewish geography!

The Law in these Parts at Sundance

This important (and beautifully shot) film about the legal system in Gaza and the West Bank comes to Sundance for a week of screenings at select times, starting January 20. Click here for the full schedule.

Joann Sfar Draws from Memory at the New York Jewish Film Festival

This fascinating documentary portrait of graphic novelist and filmmaker Joann Sfar comes to the New York Jewish Film Festival on Wednesday January 25th at 3 pm and at 8:30 pm.  Sam Ball, the director, and Rabbi Valerie Joseph,  the executive producer, will attend both screenings.

Click here for details.

MY FATHER EVGENI at the New York Jewish Film Festival

Tuesday, January 17^th at 9:00 pm

Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center – 144 West 65th Street, New York, NY

Wednesday, January 18^th at at 3:30pm

Walter Reade Theater—165 West 65^th Street, New York, NY

 Andrei Zagdansky | U.S./ Ukraine | 2010 | 77m | Russian with English subtitles

 Andrei Zagdansky and his father both lived a life in cinema, working for the Kiev Popular Science Film Studio. In 1992, when Andrei left the Ukraine for America, they communicated by letters, sharing impressions between two continents. Drawing upon that correspondence and beguiling footage from Soviet archives, Andrei creates an intimate portrait of a family living through dramatic changes. The film is an essay about a bygone era, particularly a vanishing Soviet Jewish subculture. The film had its world premiere at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam, and recently had its U.S. premiere at DOC NYC.

SMITH Magazine is teaming up with the Jewish cultural mavens of Reboot to bring you “Six Words on the Jewish Life.” From identity and mother issues to unfettered love of carbs and inner conflict over Israel—and the sheer joy of discussing and debating… everything—the Jewish life is a rich and storied topic for Jews and non-Jews alike. Share your six words on the Jewish Life by January 3 to be considered for our Six Words on the Jewish Life book, out in March 2012.

Follow the link above or click the logo below to contribute your own six-word memoir!

The memorial service will be at Temple Ansche Chesed at 12 noon on January 1.  May her memory be a blessing.

THE HOLY APPLE

David Karnovsky, General Counsel to the New York City Department of City Planning, is visiting Jerusalem and draws similarities between Jerusalem and the Big Apple

Byline: Maya Horodenichano

Urban Planning Fellow David Karnovsky

“I used to think that Jerusalem was a series of ethnic blocs, but I learned that Jerusalem is actually a series of neighborhoods, and that there are people in these neighborhoods,” says David Karnovsky, General Counsel to the New York City Department of City Planning, in an interview this week.  “The people who live in the neighborhoods are very attached to the neighborhood they live in and are ready to fight for it, defend it, and make sure that it grows in a way that suits them.  In that sense, Jerusalem is similar to New York,” Karnovsky continues and explains.  He adds that “New York is actually also a collection of small neighborhoods, and there are a lot of people in every neighborhood who care about the future of their neighborhood.  I’m really impressed by that.”

Karnovsky has spent nine weeks in the city as a fellow of the American Academy in Jerusalem project, together with three artists who also came from the United States.  During his stay he has been talking with planners, Jerusalem Municipality employees and architects about “how city planning can help promote art and culture.”  In an interview with Zman Yerushalayim, he relates that the impression he has received from the visit is that “a lot of energy and creativity exist from a planning perspective, both on the part of the Municipality as well the local society.”  Karnovsky says he was “very impressed by the level of activism and social involvement you see in parts of the city.”

What else is similar between Jerusalem and New York?

“The image that most people have of New York is Manhattan and its tall buildings.  But New York’s principal trait is actually its low-scale construction, smaller homes, and buildings in a neighborhood setting.  From that perspective, there are similarities.  Furthermore, both cities are experiencing a growth in population.  New York has grown considerably, and the main topic on the agenda is how to deal with this growth.  When I lecture about New York, I like explaining to people that the key is knowing how to grow while maintaining the city as a stable environment.  You want the city to expand in the right places, but what are the right places?  They are the places that are close to public transportation, to the subway, to the main thoroughfares, and to the buses. We don’t want the city to grow in places that are far from public transportation or in areas where the population lacks the tools to live there.  That’s because we don’t have the money to build there and create it for them. So you have to think about where the growth is occurring.”

“I believe that Jerusalem is coping with the same issue of how to adapt the city to its growing population – where should density be added, in which areas.  I think there’s a consensus here about the necessity to increase the density in existing neighborhoods as opposed to a large scale expansion of the city, particularly not to natural areas or to the forest that surrounds part of the city.  It makes sense, but then you need to think about where to expand and how to increase the density. And this must be achieved in a balanced manner while addressing issues of neighborhood preservation and preservation of neighborhood characteristics.”

“American cities have a lot more autonomy and more of a free hand to suggest solutions at the local level,” Karnovsky explains.  “In Israel, under your planning system, you have to obtain authorization for many things at higher levels – from the regional and national authorities – actually, just about for everything.  Consequently, it’s very difficult for the municipalities to develop local solutions and then go ahead with them because the national level is often unwilling to enable that to happen or is hesitant to do so.  Examples of that are the affordable housing initiatives:  several municipalities have a variety of ideas and are trying to do things in response to local problems.  But meanwhile, at the national level, they’re not allowing that to happen and they want to slow things down, examine them from their point of view, and not proceed until there is a policy in place at the national level.  When restrictive systems exist, what can the municipalities do?” he observes.

Karnovsky also referred to the budgets that are available, or to be more precise, are not available to the municipalities.  “That’s an additional element which is very different between Jerusalem and New York.  The municipalities in Israel are highly dependent on the government supporting them with funding.  If we compare the situation with New York, the economy there is autonomous and very strong, and they make use of that money to fund public projects such as parks and schools without obtaining approval from higher level authorities.  Here, the municipalities rely to a great degree on one thing – the betterment tax.  But it’s not very consistent or secure revenue, and for that reason it’s very difficult for the municipalities to provide services.”

In his view, this issue also has a direct impact on the matter of preservation.  “In New York, when a structure is designated for preservation, even if the zoning ordinances in the area allow taller and larger buildings to be built, but the historic landmark itself is not as tall and is smaller than what is allowed – high rise construction will not be permitted and the owner will not be compensated for the difference,” he explains.  “In Israel, the municipalities have to find ways to ensure that the preservation doesn’t infringe on building rights.  In many instances, a decision is made to preserve a small historic building, but a then a very large, tall and modern structure is built right next to it.  The two don’t go together.  That’s unfortunate because Jerusalem has a wealth of beautiful history and great buildings to preserve.”

A Subway for Paupers

“I met people who told me they don’t come to the city center because they can’t stand the ride, whether by car or by bus.  That’s a serious matter that needs to be resolved,” says Karnovsky.  “Clearly, further to the introduction of the light rail, there will also be a redistribution of bus lines, and we’ll see how that works.  But the question is how it will work and whether it will actually result in a more effective transit system.”

“As someone who comes from New York where the mass transit system is highly developed and people use it regularly, I was shocked by the differences. Here the transportation culture is one of using private cars, coupled with a less developed culture of using public transportation.  Add to that the fact that the road system itself is complicated, and you can understand that there’s a huge problem here.”  Karnovsky clarifies that it’s not a question of convenience, but rather a critical issue that impacts the city’s development and economy.  “When people say they don’t want to go downtown due to the transportation ‘bottleneck’ – that’s a serious problem.  I think everyone realizes that, and you don’t have to be an expert to grasp the problem.”

With regard to the light rail, Karnovsky adds that it’s obvious you cannot rely just on a single line to serve the entire city.  “A lot of people told me that the light rail is not very useful because ‘it doesn’t connect me with the city, and my shopping habits don’t require me to use it.’  My answer to that is that one line cannot serve the entire city.  That’s just not possible, and it should be considered the first stage in a network.  The question is how to design this network.”  He concludes by saying that “people must understand that what’s great about the light rail is that so many Jerusalem residents from different sectors are all together in a single space.”

A Multilevel Pedestrian Mall

During the weeks he has spent in the city, Karnovsky has studied Jaffa Road and examined an initiative to create new public spaces on roofs and terraces along the street.  “The idea is that now, after Jaffa Road has been cleaned up, the light rail is up and running, and a new pedestrian mall has been paved, a totally different environment has emerged – an environment for pedestrians,” he explains.  “I was working with the director of the Bezalel Gallery located in the post office building on 23 Jaffa Road, and we came up with an idea to create a new open space in the building – a small and intimate landscape space – where you can sit and relax, have a cup of coffee, look out on the street, the Old City, and all of Jerusalem, and experience the city in a totally different way and from a different height.”

Karnovsky explains that “the idea is that pedestrians, workers on a break, students, and all different kinds of people from the various sectors can come in through the building and make use of this space.  There are other buildings on Jaffa Road where the same thing or something similar can also be done.  We thought this would have the potential of becoming a green chain all along Jaffa Road – a unique chain of open spaces.  It’s challenging because you need to persuade people to go upstairs and you have to think about it carefully.  But one of the things you get is a unique view of Jaffa Road which no one has experienced until now.”

Another project that Karnovsky has been involved in during his stay pertains to a building in Talbieh that formerly served as the Hansen Leper’s Hospital, which the Jerusalem Municipality intends to convert into an arts center.  “It’s an incredible place and a lot of opportunities exist there to do some wonderful things.  It’s as if the building just sat there for a long time and waited for something to happen to it.  I believe this is a great opportunity.  You should probably do something there that’s related to the concept of using art, something that will draw people to the space.  It needs to be a space that’s agreeable to the public and that people will enjoy because it has been one of the most eerie and enclosed places in the city for many years.”

In an article he wrote about the Leper’s Hospital project, Karnovsky noted that the Israeli way of doing things is “first you get it done, and sort out the problems later.  In some ways, this is how Jerusalem’s legendary mayor, Teddy Kollek, developed the city after the Six Day War – he was smart, but above all else, he was quick.”  He explains that the feeling is that there is this site which has been vacant and neglected for a long time, “and now there’s an interest in doing something, and in doing it quickly.  I believe that what you have here is a kind of improvisation and desire to experience, make quick progress, and see what happens, and that struck me as being something very Israeli. It’s an approach that says ‘let’s do it and not waste time thinking about all the ramifications and the details – we’ll just do something.  We’ll see whether it works or not, so let’s move forward.’  That’s an interesting way of doing things which sometimes works, and sometimes doesn’t.  On the one hand, there’s a lot of bureaucracy; and on the other hand, there are developers and people who think like entrepreneurs, and they are highly skilled in knowing how to circumvent this red tape.  So when people really want something to get done, it frequently gets done while avoiding getting entangled in the process.”

The conversation could not end before making a comparison with Tel Aviv. “Jerusalem doesn’t have to compete with Tel Aviv,” Karnovsky says emphatically.  “In the field of art, for example, there are sophisticated institutions of art in Tel Aviv, many of which are of international caliber.  In Jerusalem, the arts and culture are very active, but in a different way.  The idea that Jerusalem has to compete according to Tel Aviv’s standards doesn’t make any sense in my mind.  It should progress according to its own criteria and develop its own culture, and I believe that there are many young people here who want to do just that.  There are young people in Musrara and in similar places who are doing very interesting things which you don’t see in Tel Aviv, and that’s what makes it interesting.”

Donald Byrd, Dance Fellow

Saturday 12 November 2011 — Let me begin by saying I love Jerusalem. I love all its contradictions, political messiness, convergences and colliding of religions, cultures and ethnicities, as well as the resultant tensions. It is my kind of joint! To me it is not a city it is a ‘place’. A place that feels as if it is not bound by space-time but rather one that often feels outside time, since time here can appear as layers or to collapse in on itself. I must admit that while here I often don’t know what ‘now’ is. It is like being in a rubik’s cube of time with its parts constantly rotating at various speeds and its dizzying permutations trying to settle on ‘a now’.

Being in Jerusalem has made me think about the notion of fitting in, assimilation (or maybe I mean acculturation). What does it mean, practically? Often I will ask dancers to give me a working definition of a dance term, for example arabesque penché, whose definition in this context might be – your highest arabesque tilted forward. This definition not only helps aganist the common tendency for the dancer to drop their back as they ‘lean’ forward but it is also based on the reality of their body and not on some idealized notion of the body. So if I were to define ‘to fit in’ or assimilate in relationship to Jerusalem and in the context of practical and real world, what would it be – “to be at ease in a place, i.e. Jerusalem” perhaps? Or is it something more like – “not always at ease but not ill at ease either”.

Last Sunday at the Academy’s weekly salon and dinner, I said that Jerusalem reminded me of New York. The woman seated next to me tensed, sat up straight in her chair and said, “That’s not possible!” To her thinking, Tel Aviv was more like New York – cosmopolitan, rich in culture, and most importantly to her, tolerant. But tolerant of what, I wondered? To my observations Tel Aviv is practically militant in its secular jewishness. Almost everyone is Jewish and almost every Jew is secular. So there isn’t much opportunity to test one’s tolerance in a practical sense. It is all concept of tolerance; there is very little opportunity to practice tolerance. There is a sameness to Tel Aviv society [and in that sameness I feel ill at ease]. I think that the sameness provides comfort to the inhabitants while underscoring the ‘otherness’ of outsiders. When I was there four years ago often I noticed that my presences seem to startle people. It seemed as if my apparently obvious Gentileness caused them to be momentarily shaken out of the comfort of their Jewishness or the sameness they are used to. Their faces seem to say, “Where am I?” There would be a quick shake, a slight shiver in their bodies as if shaking something off, they would recover and be on their way as if I did not exist or that the encounter did not happen. They returned to the safety of the bubble that is Tel Aviv. Clearly, one of these did not fit and that was I. Nothing of the sort happens in Jerusalem.

Lets be clear here, I am not suggesting that Jerusalemites are tolerant – they just seem to tolerate you, albeit sometimes with lots of attitude, shaded hostility, or feigned indifference (depending on which ‘Jerusalem’ you are in, East, West, Old City, a ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, etc.). Which to me seems very New Yorkish. Just taking a ride on the new, currently free and often-crowded light rail that is jammed with every version of a Jerusalemite you can imagine demonstrates the New York likeness of Jerusalem. It is in those short moments when diverse peoples are forced to tolerate each other for the duration of their ride, when their tribal identity and humalah are momentarily subjugated to, quoting my friend Tommy DeFrantz, ” people doing their thing as best they can” that I feel as though I most fit in.

Here are three dictionary definitions of assimilation (courtesy of Encarta World English Dictionary) 1. The process of becoming part of, or more like, something greater; 2. The process in which one group takes on the cultural and other traits of a larger group; and 3. The integration of new knowledge or information with what is already known. They all speak to a smaller or single ‘thing’ being integrated into a larger or group thing. But this says nothing about the mindset of an individual who is assimilated. In the Star Trek universe/ mythology The Borg, a pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms that share a single mind and a single purpose – to assimilate technology and individuals into its ‘collective’, “We are the Borg. Existence, as you know it, is over. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile.” This is the ultimate act of fitting in (and a frightening one as well).

All of this fitting in stuff came up because while sitting in one of my favorite cafes here, Kalo, on Beit Lechem Road, the leafy and peaceful thoroughfare that cuts through the heart of the old stone villas and gardens of Baka, I noticed how at ease I felt. Perhaps more so than I ever feel when in most American cities, except perhaps New York, Los Angeles, Austin, and Seattle. And certainly more than in any foreign city I can think of.

Perhaps to fit in is simply a personal assertion – I fit in because I say I do and I am at ease in this place. This has nothing to do with how you are perceived from the outside but rather how it occurs for you. Ultimately, I am only concerned about how I feel not how others see or think of me. There is a 12 Step adage that says, “What other people think of me is none of my business”. So, In Jerusalem I find myself fitting in because I say I do and it doesn’t matter if others think I do or not. I also want to fit in – I desire it. I am at ease and surprisingly have a kind of peace of mind here. But also Jerusalem, like the Borg, demands that you submit and resistance to this place is indeed futile.