The 2016 AICE Israeli Film Festival is currently in full swing in Sydney and Melbourne ( at the Ritz and Nova cinemas respectively). The event aims to present a diverse range of films from Israel in a variety of genres – including romantic comedies, a Holocaust mystery, a Bedouin family drama, a Polish/Israeli horror film and several new independent movies.
The festival kicked off with Fire Birds, a comedic drama and whodunit about a con man and a troubled detective. The film deals with manipulation of the Holocaust for personal gain.
A 77-year-old man’s body is found in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon river with three stab wounds to the chest and a number tattooed along his forearm. Amnon, a police detective in his forties, who is separated from his wife and young daughter, is assigned the case, although he certainly doesn’t want it. He’s a second-generation Holocaust survivor and he has just come off a lengthy suspension. Now he struggles to bring this mystery to a quick conclusion. In the weeks leading up to his death Amikam, the victim, sought a “membership card” to the circle of Holocaust survivors. Despite his age he was still attractive and his charm was evident as he searched the obituaries for widows to beguile. As the story interweaves past and present, we witness each man’s struggle to rejoin the society that rejected him.
In contrast is Everything is Broken Up and Dances, an unusual tale borne of post traumatic stress disorder. From writer, director and star Nony Geffen, the film concerns a 30-year-old university student (Geffen) and his experiences in the wake of being called upon to fight for the Israeli army in a military operation in Gaza. Before the call up Nony – who was named after his uncle Amnon, a musician who was killed in the Yom Kippur War – was living with a roommate, Rotem (Dudu Tassa), also a muso, in Tel Aviv. Shy, with a pleasant nature, at that time Nony even had to be coaxed by his buddy to speak to a girl he liked in a bar, whose name was Hadas (Gaya Traub).
Nony’s life changes in an instant when the armoured personnel carrier in which he is a passenger is struck by a Hamas rocket. He is the sole survivor of that incident and he returns from Gaza a totally different person – non communicative and suffering severe flashbacks – having to be cared for, including being bathed, by his parents. Nony is also under the care of a military psychiatrist (Yossi Marshek). But with no progress in his condition, his parents and doctor are prevailed upon by Rotem to move him back to live with Rotem again in Tel Aviv, which they do. It is there that music becomes Nony’s way back into the real world, but not as himself, rather as a second coming of his deceased uncle, having assumed the name Amnon. The psychiatrist instructs friends and family to play along with Nony’s delusion.
The subject of this film is important and its treatment rather special. To be able to smile in the wake of heartache and fear says a lot about the human condition and Nony Geffen deserves plaudits for his efforts.
In the documentary category comes Keep Quiet, a surprising documentary about a well-spoken young man’s journey and about-face. Csanad Szegedi’s story, as revealed by directors Joseph Martin and Sam Blair, is astonishing. As vice-president of Jobbik, Hungary’s far-right extremist party, Szegedi fervently espoused anti-Semitic rhetoric and was a vocal supporter of the Holocaust denial movement. He was a founder of the Hungarian Guard, a now-banned militia inspired by the Arrow Cross, a pro-Nazi party complicit in the murder of thousands of Jews during the Second World War. Then came a revelation: a long-buried secret was exposed that upended Szegedi and his career. Life as Szegedi knew it, was over.
As a commentary on the human condition and of the intense power of ignorance, Keep Quiet certainly casts a lasting impression.
The AICE Israeli Film Festival continues at Cinema Nova Melbourne and Ritz Cinemas Sydney until 25 September 2016.
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television