Summertime in Israel brings a slew of film festivals along with the sizzling heat. As I missed out on both the LGBT film festival and the Jerusalem film festival due to other, less exciting engagements, I thrilled at the prospect of attending the International Women’s Film Festival In Rechovot. Having fully developed my Tel Aviv snark in the last year, I was loathe to leave my northern neighborhood, but my fellow cinema-lovers prevailed upon me with promises of adventure. So, off I went to the train, journeying to the edge of civilization- Rechovot suburbia.
Before we delve into the films, I wanted to take a short break to address Marina Abromovic’s stunning self-portrait that graced the festival’s homepage. The image is at once bold, bringing up childhood images of a gallant prince on his white steed, but also humbling- is she holding a white flag for surrender? I could not figure out exactly how Abromivic was connected to the festival (Google had no answers and neither did the Hebrew version of the site). I wished upon a star to casually bump into her in the popcorn line but alas, twas not to be…
But back to the cinematic arts- with such a wide variety of films from both Israeli artists and international directors to pick from, I struggled to narrow it down to just one. My final toss up was between an Israeli film, Black Bus, and the Holland-based Polish director Urszula Antoniak's Nothing Personal. The topic of women’s life in the Haredi (ultra-religious) community is a heated one- Haredim are proud of their heritage and intensely private about their community secrets. The trailer indicated that it was going to be an emotional ride through these women’s turbulent personal lives, and I wasn’t too sure I could tackle the subject matter at the end of my train trek.
I opted for Nothing Personal, a lovely, subtle film that was artfully shot. The films tells the story of a mysterious loner who stumbles upon a kindred spirit and their ensuing unlikely relationship. Each scene resembled a watercolor painting, rendered in soft and blurred hues. So many of the scenes could have been distilled to a still life photograph, so precise was the composition and the lighting.
watercolors drip
hillsides lush with rain. alone.
still life; life is still
hillsides lush with rain. alone.
still life; life is still
No comments:
Post a Comment