Nostalgia Sunday – Machboim

August 2, 2009 - 12:28 PM by Rachel Neiman · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, Movies, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture 

Israeli director Dan Wolman is best-known for his film version of My Michael (1974) but another of his films, Machboim (Hide and Seek), made its own mark in 1980 as the first Israeli film about homosexuality.

If there was ever a reason to pick up a copy of Machboim, the shooting last night at a Gay-Lesbian youth drop-in center in Central Tel Aviv is enough. There have been other gay-themed films made since — from the late Amos Guttman’s film Nagua m which was hailed in 1983 as a groundbreaker for bringing AIDS to general awareness, to Yossi and Jagger (2002), about two soldiers who fall in love, which was all but mainstream at the box office.

But Machboim, which is set in 1946, was first to address the conflict, denial and ugly aggression against male homosexuality that is part and parcel of any macho society. That same machismo, the film suggests, was perhaps necessary to forge a national identity and bring the State of Israel into being, but is still rooted in the Israeli psyche. It is an uncomfortable thought.

A fairly short if uninformative interview with Woman can be found on YouTube. It’s not about Machboim. Probably just best to rent the film.

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Foto Friday – Sexy Tel Aviv

July 11, 2009 - 7:06 PM by Rachel Neiman · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture, Travel 

Tel Aviv nights are sultry and sexy. Or muggy or humid to the cynics. But for those who love summer in the city, going out clubbing on a Thursday night is just the right thing to do. After all, what’s a little sweat between friends?

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Tel Aviv abounds with dance clubs, bars and night spots. According to the Gay Tel Aviv website, “For a great vacation, you’ve found the right place.”

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The municipality also actively supports that view — and one expects no less from a city hall with a street number of 69! — and will host the annual gathering of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association this coming October. Given Tel Aviv’s gay-friendly status — and the fact that October in Israel has the loveliest weather — registration should be brisk.

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This photo series was taken by citizen journalist/blogger David Shankbone, who wrote about Gay Tel Aviv, his night at the TLV club, and DJ Ofer Nissim (pictured), as follows: “One of the most excellent spectacles to behold in Israel was the amazing high energy of famous Israeli deejay Offer Nissim as several thousand men and women went insane. The entranced audience must have been what Jonestown looked like before the Kool-Aid…”

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Click here for more about that night out on the town.

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