Waltz with Bashir gets Oscar nod and Beirut screening

January 26, 2009 - 9:37 PM by Harry · 2 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, History and Culture, Movies, Pop Culture, War, coexistence 

Waltz with Bashir in BeirutIn the same week that saw Waltz with Bashir finally secure a place on the short list of movies nominated for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award, the movie was finally shown to the public in Beirut, where much of it takes place. Waltz with Bashir is officially banned by Lebanon, but through a loophole, a Lebanese multimedia war archive organization called UNAM was able to show the movie to a modest crowd of 90 at a “private party,” a piece in Variety reports.

Already a bona fide marvel for the innovative manner in which it melds documentary footage with animated dreamscapes, Ari Folman’s tour de force garnered acclaim on the international festival circuit before winning a Golden Globe earlier this month.

As of late last week, Bashir is one of five finalists for that Oscar, nominated alongside offerings from Austria, Germany, France and Japan, with the winner to be announced at the award ceremony on February 22. Following Beaufort’s nomination a year ago, Bashir making the short list of Foreign Language Oscar nominees means that two Israeli movies focusing on the IDF’s role in Lebanon have received Oscar nods in as many years.

Folman himself is generally skeptical that Bashir is in a position to make a difference in the world, telling the international press on numerous occasions that he sees war as an unfortunate fixture. On the other hand, now that his movie has screened in Beirut, he has modified his stance. “In principle I don’t believe movies can change the world, but I’m a great believer in their ability to form small bridges,” Folman told Haaretz in the context of that newspaper’s coverage of the Beirut screening.

Small bridges of coexistence and peace indeed. The movie has already been shown in Ramallah and may soon receive a modest theatrical release in the gulf states, according to the Haaretz article, and last Saturday’s screening in a Beirut suburb was not simple to arrange either. The UMAM organization’s leadership is proud to have accomplished what it has with the Israeli movie:

“The subject of this film is a crucial moment in the history of Lebanon, for the history of Israel, for the history of the Palestinians, and for the history of Palestinian life in Lebanon,” UMAM founder Monika Borgmann told Haaretz.

“At some point every state must deal with its violent past and the sooner it does so the better. That’s why I think this movie should be shown,” she said.

“Yesterday, my phone didn’t stop ringing…everyone wants a copy of the film,” she said. “I think it comes out on DVD in March. The next day, it’s going to be pirated all over Lebanon.”

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Rocket rockumentary

January 14, 2009 - 3:36 PM by Harry · 1 Comment
Filed under: Blogging, History and Culture, Life, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, War 

Sderot: Rock in the Red Zone35-year-old filmmaker Laura Bialis moved from Los Angeles to Sderot just over a year ago. Her latest documentary, Sderot: Rock in the Red Zone, set for distribution in 2009, is currently in post-production, but given the latest developments in the south, we wouldn’t be surprised if some newer footage crept in to the final cut as well. As Bialis puts it on the movie’s website, “This is a story about what its like to live through a never-ending war. Not just to survive, but to keep living.”

Bialis has been blogging since the current Gaza war has begun, with her words lending a personal face to her project’s subject matter, as well as the way the movie is shaping up:

I used to have a crew, but my two usual shooters are afraid to come to Sderot right now. So I’m on my own, except for my husband, who has become my assistant cameraperson because he won’t let me out of his sight. We’ve made a pact to try to stay together as much as possible so we don’t worry about each other….

When I first came to Sderot I didn’t run to the shelter. The threat seemed so random. It seemed almost impossible that you were going to be hurt. The fear of Qassams is something that takes a while. It grows on you. Because now, I know too many people with near misses.

A lover of history, Bialis founded and heads the Foundation for Documentary Projects, which serves as an umbrella for her various projects, which have in the past focused on the Holocaust and Soviet Refusenik culture. Along the way, she has garnered awards from the Vermont International Film Festival and the Anti-Defamation League.

Sderot: Rock in the Red Zone (check out the heart-wrenchingly poignant trailer here) does what it can to convey what life is like in a sleepy development town which has absorbed thousands of terrorist rocket attacks over the past several years, but the movie accomplishes this feat in an unconventional manner, by focusing on Sderot’s status as a musical hotbed.

Acts like Sfatayim, Teapacks and Knessiat Hasechel, all huge Israeli pop bands, all hail from the town, where loads of up-and-comers are enjoying an artistic renaissance, largely through the hub of Sderock, an incubator/rehearsal space that’s also a performance stage – and also an underground bomb shelter. Sderot: Rock in the Red Zone tells the story of life in Sderot through the eyes of the town’s vibrant music scene and that scene’s key players.

For more details on Sderot’s rock scene and full profile of Bialis please read this story at ISRAEL21c.

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Golden Globe for Waltz with Bashir

January 12, 2009 - 10:34 AM by Harry · 3 Comments
Filed under: Israeliness, Movies, Pop Culture, War 

Ari Folman with his Golden GlobeThe innovative retro-animated documentary Waltz with Bashir won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film yesterday in California, and director Ari Folman did not miss the opportunity to reflect on the poignancy of the victory from the podium.

It’s a big deal when any Israeli film wins a big international award, regardless of how many it won in the past or how much buzz there is over the possibility of an Oscar nod when the nominations are announced in about two weeks.

But with an ongoing conflict in Israel’s south making for a parallel media war battling over the opinion of the world’s citizens, an Israeli victory in Hollywood becomes even more significant – especially given the movie’s introspective soldier’s experience narrative.

The Jerusalem Post today sums up Folman’s acceptance speech thusly:

Folman thanked his team and his wife and dedicated the award to the babies born to his team members over the four years during which the film was made.

Expressing his wish to see peace arrive in the war-torn Middle East, Folman said he hoped one day these babies will regard the film and the war it describes as an old video game with which they had nothing to do.

Sadly, war’s status as hell is a timeless theme, one which speaks to the Israeli experience far more than it ought to, and The Hollywood Reporter managed to get Folman talking about it even more behind the scenes, and thankfully, with a tinge of optimism:

Folman was a man of few words backstage but did say he is sad that his film, about conflict in the Middle East, is relevant in light of the current Gaza incursions. “Unfortunately, this film is always relevant,” he said. “It has only one major statement (one of anti-war). It was relevant two years ago (when I began making it), and it’s still now.” Folman said he hopes for the best for that part of the world. “I am very optimistic (for peace), or I wouldn’t have done this,” he said. “It’s a matter of leadership: A time will come that both sides will have clever leaders who will work it out.”

Image courtesy fuxoft from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

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