A HISTORY OF ISRAELI CINEMA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  JUNE 29, 2010

From: Berkshire International Film Festival

          Great Barrington, MA 01230

Contact: Rachel Bronstein, Publicity Manager

            (413)538-8030

THE BERKSHIRE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS RAPHAEL NADJARI'S A HISTORY OF ISRAELI CINEMA

(Great Barrington, MA) – As part of BIFF’s REEL FRIENDS Film Society 3rd Sunday screenings, the BIFF will present the first half of the two part series, A HISTORY OF ISRAELI CINEMA directed by Raphael Nadjari on August 15^th at 11am at the Triplex. The second part will show on Sunday, September 19^th. The first half of the film spans the years 1932 to 1978, starting with the earliest films made by European Jews in Palestine leading up to and following the creation of the modern State of Israel. The second part covers the years 1978 to 2007 and examines the wave of films dealing with political issues and the trend towards a more personal approach to cinema. Through interviews with film professionals, critics and intellectuals — including Amos Gitai, Joseph Ceder, Avi Mograbi, Yehuda Ne’eman, Menachem Golan, Moshe Ivgy and Zeev Revach — and extensive use of film clips, the documentary invites its audience to share in the process of discovery.

Berkshire Eagle columnist, Leonard Quart,  who is Professor Emeritus of Cinema Studies at the College of Staten Island and at the CUNY Graduate Center, as well as a Contributing Editor at Cineaste,  will be present to introduce the film and for a Q&A afterwards. Quart describes Nadjari’s work as a “penetrating personal take on Israel’s film history, rather than a conventional historical compilation. The film spills over with intellectually suggestive ideas that provide a window into a cinema that demands to be further studied and seen.” A HISTORY OF ISRAELI CINEMA is open to the public at a matinee price and free for REEL FRIENDS.

BIFF 2011 will be held June 2-5, and submissions open October 1, 2010.

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