Sundance Festival recognizes 2 Israeli filmmakers

Published on February 2, 2011

Israeli filmmakers Erez Kav-El and Talya Lavie received awards at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

The Circuit

By Norma Zager
Published on March 16, 2006

Temple Emanuel was rockin' recently when it hosted the Temple Bryant A.M.E. Church Choir that performed with Emanuel's choir at a Shabbat Shira Service. The entire congregation and guests were on their feet singing and clapping in joyous rapture.

In Defense of Jewish Husbands

By Tom Tugend
Published on August 19, 2004

Von Trotta, one of Europe's preeminent filmmakers with a special gift for portraying strong women, has previously chronicled the story of 20th century Germany in such films as "Rosa Luxemburg" and "The Pledge." It took her some 10 years to complete the cycle by documenting her country's "darkest period" in "Rosenstrasse."

While staying true to the basic facts, she has dramatized the story by telling it largely through the eyes of a young American Jewish woman, Hannah Weinstein (Maria Schrader).

‘Flicks’ for Generation Y

By Gaby Wenig
Published on July 29, 2004

Kenny Schnurr and Micah Smith are concerned about Jewish education. "One of the problems is that students are not interested [in what's being taught]," Schnurr said. "The students are used to this very engaging visual language [of the media], and the teachers don't have anything to compete with that."

So Smith and Schnurr, both filmmakers in their 20s, teamed up to create J-Flicks, a series of educational "trigger" films that repackage esoteric Jewish concepts in a slick neo-MTV style garb for a media savvy audience.

‘Raising’ the Bar on Teen Comedies

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on April 17, 2003

Peter Sollett's ebullient romantic comedy, "Raising Victor Vargas," about Hispanic teens in the East Village, began as a short film about, well, himself.

About Two Boys

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on March 13, 2003

On a cloudy afternoon in Hollywood, Paul and Chris Weitz are recounting how their late father, legendary fashion designer John Weitz, dressed down a man who dissed their raunchy comedy, "American Pie."

Caped Crusaders

By Ruth Andrew Ellenson
Published on May 16, 2002

The $114 million opening weekend for the release of "Spider-Man" on May 3 was not only a box office record breaker but a resounding triumph for two wily Israeli entrepreneurs.

Silence in Any Language

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 11, 2002

The Holocaust, as seen through the eyes of five international filmmakers, will air on successive evenings on Cinemax, from April 15-19, at 7 p.m.

Collectively titled "Broken Silence," the series, produced by James Moll (who won an Oscar for the documentary, "The Last Days"), consists of one-hour documentaries from Hungary, Argentina, Russia, Czech Republic and Poland, each in its native language with English subtitles.

The series is one more spinoff from the prodigious work of Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation in videotaping the testimonies of more than 50,000 survivors in 57 countries and 32 languages.

Bevy of Jewish-Directed Films

Published on November 2, 2000

Bevy of Jewish-Directed Films