When Eran Bester worked in Canada as the Bank Leumi’s representative in Montreal from 2004 to 2007, he was struck by the fact that so many Canadians had a one-sided view of Israel. (with video)
Ushpizin
When
Eran Bester worked in Canada as the Bank Leumi’s representative in
Montreal from 2004 to 2007, he was struck by the fact that so many
Canadians had a one-sided view of Israel.
Ushpizin
He was “deeply disappointed” that their knowledge, if not perception, of Israel was gleaned almost exclusively from the endless violence of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Bester believes there’s much more to Israel than its long-simmering dispute with the Arab world and the Palestinians, and he wracked his brain to find a way to show Israeli society in all its facets and dimensions.
Although he’s not strictly a cinephile, Bester, an investor who lives in Tel Aviv today, decided he could best achieve this objective by conveying Israel’s complexities through the medium of Israeli movies.
In 2005, he organized the first Israel Film Festival in Montreal, and two years ago, at the behest of the Israeli government, he brought the festival to Toronto.
Since then, the not-for-profit festival has opened in Montreal in May and in Toronto in October.
This year’s Toronto edition takes place Oct. 18 to 22 at the Sheppard Grande Cinema and is supported by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, United King Films – Israel’s largest movie distributor – and the Rabinovich Foundation Project.
Films start at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
“We try to screen the best Israeli films,” he said. “They show Israel from every conceivable angle and show that Israelis don’t walk the street with guns.”
According to Bester, the Israeli film industry makes about 25 movies a year, of which about one-third are of good and exportable quality.
At last year’s festival, there were usually full houses, said Besser, who runs it as a labour of love and comes to Canada to organize it in both cities.
This year’s lineup begins with Eli & Ben, about a 12-year-old boy who tries to prove his father’s innocence after he is accused of bribery.
It’s followed by Waltz with Bashir, an animated film about the 1982 war in Lebanon and a contender for the best foreign film at the 2009 Academy Awards.
Also on the program are Ushpizin, which profiles a haredi family in Jerusalem;
Three Mothers, which draws a portrait of three Egyptian sisters who settle in Israel as new immigrants; Lost Islands, which focuses on twin brothers who fall in love with the same woman; Bonjour Mr. Shlomi, which charts the life of a self-effacing humanitarian; Salt of the Earth, which documents the making of what seems like a perfect crime, and James’ Journey to Jerusalem, which documents the travails of an African man in Israel.
Guest speaker Oded Adomi Leshem, an Israeli filmmaker and lecturer, will introduce most of the films.
Ron Ben-Yishai, an Israeli journalist who covered Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, will discuss Waltz with Bashir after its screening.
Tickets are $13 per film.Students with ID can get in free, subject to availability, five minutes prior to a screening.
For further information, call 416-231-0029, or visit www.Israelfilmfestival.ca.
