February 15, 2013 | 2:10 am

Rock in the house of dessert + VIDEO

Posted Dana Addadi

Follow JewishJournal.com on

One Israeli medical student and one documentary cinema photographer join together to run the "POSOTIVE" project. A unique 40-minute documentary film chronicling the story of the rock music scene as seen in the live house concerts performed monthly at the student's house in the Capital of the Negev—Be'er Sheva.

No, that's not quite accurate. Strike it down and let me start over; this the private story of Ronel Keren, 6th year student of the medical University Semmelweiss in Budapest, Hungary, landing straight from cold Europe into his professional internship in 'Sorroka' hospital in Be'er Sheva. Originally from Kfar Sabba, Keren didn't know anyone in town. Let alone, he didn't go to 'Ben-Gurion' University either, as most medical students living there do; and so he sensed a strong lack of a community for himself.

Having played in a band for as long he can remember, one night Keren went to sneak a taste of the local rock music scene at a popular venue in town, and fell in love with the raw authentic statement of what the artists there had to offer. Unlike in other more central areas of Israel, in which music creators strive to keep up the beat up to date, there was something almost pure in the lyrics and melodies brought out by the citizens of the desert city.

Once a month Keren rents some amplifiers, microphones and lights, and the little quiet home of his goes through a transformation: in the corner of the kitchen the artists are invited to “the stage,” on the other corner of the living room neighbors and families take their place on the couch or on a carpet on the floor ready for magic to begin.

POSOTIVE project aims to bring music as Keren believes it should be delivered to the listeners: intimate, close, un-plugged. For this cause he assigned Itamar Luria to follow the monthly events with his camera. The result, they hope, will become a 40-minute documentary aimed to expose the Negev local voices to the world. Voices that are unlikely to be heard at global scale.