Film Club

Do you like movies? Do you enjoy watching and discussing Jewish films but don’t always have the chance? CDT members gather on Zoom (and in members’ homes when it becomes safe to do so again!) to watch and discuss moving and thought-provoking Jewish films from around the world. Many of the films have been featured in recent Jewish film festivals.

After an all too long hiatus, the CDT Film Club is finally back! We’ll watch films on our own and discuss them on Zoom. Everyone is welcome to attend one or all films, so in that sense it’s not actually a club. We hope you can join us!

Please note that dates and films are subject to change. Contact Emily Sper at emily@emilysper.com with questions, film suggestions, or if you’d like to lead a discussion about a particular film. 
 

This month with the CDT Film Club: 

May 28: One Week and a Day (Kanopy, 2016, 99 min.): Eyal finishes the traditional Jewish week of mourning for his late son, his wife Vicky urges him to return to their routine -- but just because the shiva has ended doesn't mean it's life as usual.
Nominated for the Golden Camera and the Critics Week Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Nominated for the New Auteurs Award and the Breakthrough Award at AFI Fest. "Resolutely non-psychological and spare with its sharply funny dialogue, ONE WEEK AND A DAY apprehends its walking wounded through their mood swings, their half-assed lurches into elaborate plans we can tell they'll never complete." - Ella Taylor, NPR 
 

Future films:

June 18: Etgar Keret: What Animal Are You? Portrait of Renowned Israeli Writer (Kanopy, 2013, 59 min): For this entertainingly intimate documentary portrait of renowned Israeli writer Etgar Keret, filmmaker Gur Bentwich accompanies his longtime friend on a whirlwind book tour to the Big Apple. Between readings and interviews, Keret ruminates on his life as a writer and the recent death of his father; he also hangs with New York pals including author Nathan Englander and This American Life’s Ira Glass. 
By turns poignant, absurd, and hilarious, What Animal Are You? is a personal and playful journey with one of world literature’s most original voices.

July 16 (Episode 1) & August 20 (Episode 2): A History of Israeli Cinema: Episode 1 (Kanopy, 3 hr. 30 min / 1 hr. 45 min): Raphael Nadjari’s extraordinary two-part documentary weaves together clips from more than 70 years of Israeli film with commentary from filmmakers, scholars and critics — including Amos Gitai, Joseph Cedar, Avi Mograbi, Yehuda Ne’eman, Menachem Golan, Moshe Ivgy, Ronit Elkabetz and Zeev Revach. Crafted for both insiders and outsiders, the film traces the evolution of the country’s cinema alongside political and social history: part one spans the years 1933 to 1978, covering the overlap between the Zionist struggle to form a state and the propagandistic qualities of revolutionary cinema; part two, the shift to reality-based filmmaking in the late 70s, and the transition from the political films of the 80s to the more personal cinema of today. The most comprehensive and compelling record of the subject ever attempted, Nadjari’s film reveals a cinematic national identity that is inextricably linked to the ever-changing emotional reality of the country.