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One has a movie called Itty Bitty Titty Committee,
while the other highlights a documentary titled A Hebrew
Lesson. Despite what might seem like vast differences, the
Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and the Israel Film Festival
do share a few things, including the nationality of some
of their entries, (likely) the sexual orientation of some of
their filmmakers and their schedules: Both take place throughout
the coming week.
The Israel Film
Festival began Wednesday and runs through next Thursday, May 3
at the Sunrise Intracoastal in North Miami Beach. Unlike most
festivals, which originate in one city, play and then remain
dormant for a year, the Israel festival has already played in
Los Angeles and will travel to New York City in October. The
same films play at each stop.
“This has been
the strongest lineup of films we have had in the past decade,”
said Meir Fenigstein, executive director of the festival. “We
hope Miami audiences will take advantage of these wonderful
films. In our final day of the Los Angeles festival we had
sold-out six screenings.”
The features
certainly sound worthy of a look. Aviva My Love won six
Israeli Academy Awards in 2006, including Best Film, Best
Director, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. The film tells the
story of a hard-working mother with a secret writing talent and
what happens when she learns to pursue her dreams in the face of
brutal ambition and family obligations.
Sweet Mud
was the first Israeli film to win the Grand Jury Prize at the
Sundance Film Festival. It is a coming-of-age story about a
12-year-old boy caught between an emotionally unstable mother
and the rigid equality values of their 1970s kibbutz.
Israeli screen
legend Gila Almagor appears in two films: Three Mothers,
about triplets who deal with their cloudy past while living in
an apartment; and Tied Hands, which follows a mother who
goes on a desperate search for medicinal marijuana to help her
ailing son.
“She’s the
first lady of Israeli cinema,” Fenigstein said of Amagor, who’s
been acting for 50 years and will be in attendance for select
screenings.
Documentaries
include A Hebrew Lesson, in which foreigners gain insight
into Israeli society by taking language lessons; The Darien
Dilemma, about the 1,000 Jews who were stranded in the
winter of 1941 on the frozen Danube River; and All Is Well by
Me, about the famous Israeli singer Josie Katz.
While most film
festivals only show movies, this festival also screens
television specials that were well received when originally
aired in Israel. These include Mortgage, a comedy/drama
about a young couple that has to go to great lengths to save
their home; and Pesya’s Necklace, in which the
80-year-old Pesya tries to find the necklace she and her sister
hid before being taken to Auschwitz.
The Gay &
Lesbian Film Festival begins Friday and runs through Sunday, May
6 with an impressive array of documentaries, shorts and features
along with many, many parties.
Friday’s
opening night film is based on Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of
Dorian Gray and was directed by Duncan Roy, who will be in
attendance. The modernized retelling of the story follows the
vain Dorian Gray as he makes a deal with the devil to ensure
himself eternal youth.
Documentaries
include Saving Marriage, about the fight to keep gay
marriage legal in Massachusetts; and Jihad for Love,
which depicts the complicated issues surrounding Islam and
homosexuality.
Coincidentally,
this year’s fest will also pay tribute to award-winning Israeli
director Eytan Fox (Yossi & Jagger) prior to the premiere
screening of the director’s new film, The Bubble at 9:30
p.m. on Saturday, May 5.
One comedy of
note is the world premiere of A Four Letter Word, about a
gay guy who starts dating a hunky artist and learns that love is
more than just, yes, a four-letter word. But the most enticing
title of all the feature films has to be Itty Bitty Titty
Committee, about a recent high school graduate named Anna
who joins a radical feminist group after developing a crush on
its leader.
“It’s a riot,”
said festival Director Carol Coombes. “It has lots of phallic
objects being blown up by riot girls. It’s reclaiming feminism
for the younger MySpace generation that maybe hasn’t dealt with
feminism before.”
Star Nicole
Vicius, who plays the leader of the group, agrees. “What I
really like about it is the energy,” Vicius said. “It’s not
super-serious, but it’s also not an out and out campy comedy.
It’s more about finding what you believe in and your own
identity.”
Even if you
don’t attend any of the films, you will not want to miss the
WayOUT party on Española Way Wednesday night. Not only will two
blocks of the street be taken over by a queer take on palm trees
and flamenco dancers, but Queen Elizabeth will wave to you from
a balcony, and naked wrestling rooster girls will do … whatever
it is they do. Wrestle naked, we hope.
The Israel Film
Festival takes place at Sunrise Cinema’s Intracoastal 8 Theater,
3701 NE 163rd St., North Miami Beach. Tickets are $10. Call
1-877-966-5566 or visit israelfilmfestival.com. The Miami Gay &
Lesbian Film Festival screenings are scheduled at the Regal
South Beach, 1100 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach; Gusman Center for
the Performing Arts, 174 E. Flagler St., Miami; Colony Theater,
1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach; and Gateway Cinemas, 1820 E.
Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $13; after-parties
and special events are extra. Call 305-531-2117 or visit
mglff.com. |
