Before the Revolution (2013)
Dan Shadur and Barak Heymann's film on Israeli's in Iran before the Islamic revolution is a must see. The now seemingly way out story of how the Shah and Israel once were friendly is hard to imagine. Its the story of how many went to Iran to make some big money only to fail to realize the trouble that was brewing around them.
Like the best documentaries this absolute gem of a film shows us something we never knew and does so in such away that it alters everything you thought you knew.
This is possibly my first big Wow of 2014.
The film plays on January 20th and 21 and is worth getting you butt down to Lincoln Center to see it.
Ukraine Brides:13 years Later (2013)
Director Nili Tal looks in on the lives of some Ukrainian women who married Israeli men in a kind of mail order bride situation. Tal had first encountered them in 2000 and then stopped in to visit them several times over the years. This is the latest installment and its film that provokes a wide range of emotions from smiles to tears.
I really like the film a great deal however I kind of wish I had been following the stories all along since there were several times I sensed that there was stuff I missed by not seeing what had gone before. That said this is a super little film that's playing on January 22nd and is worth your time.
The Women Pioneers (2013)
Portrait of the some Eastern European women who in the early part of the last century traveled to Palestine to build a new life and "create a new woman". Using archival footage and excerpts of the letters and diaries of the film explores the difficult lives the women chose to lead. An earnest and heart felt film, it didn't particularly connect with me. I know its the result of the film seeming to be a bit too somber for my tastes.
It plays January 21
Rita Jahan Fourz (2013)
Companion piece of sorts to Before the Revolution (see above) about singer Fourz who left Iran when she was a child and moved to Israel. Convinced to record an album in Farsi we watch as Fourz records the album and interacts with her family. A wonderfully messy film that bounces from feeling professional, a home movie, a family drama to making of documentary to concert film, this film is strangely alive in a way that many other films aren't. To be certain some pieces don't work, but others kind of transcend the moment and become something wonderful. While I did not walk out loving the film I did like it enough to start looking up on line for some of Fourz's music.
This film plays January 16 and 19
For tickets and more information on any of the films go to the FilmLinc website here.
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