Jewish Film

Jewish Film, to me, is an always interesting and fun topic to bring about, because it never fails to bring out the artistic talents and visions of filmmakers that have a strong connection or bond to Judaism. When I Googled "Jewish Film Festivals," I found such located in many major cities including Boston, San Fransisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte, and many more, all usually happening throughout the months of February, March, and April. These events usually take place at the local JCC and the mission of each local festival is to illuminate global Jewish experiences throughout film.

One movie that I watched for this class was The Unchosen Ones, which was a mockumentary short film that was written and directed by (as well as starred) Iris Bahr. This movie was a humorous look at the certain stereotypes of people that are seen throughout Israel such as the lost tourist on a date trip to Israel, or the exploring, bumbling, British tourist attempting to create her own documentary in Isreal, as well as certain Isrealis such as the religious settlers in the land, or secular Israelis who bum around and smoke. I loved the narrative for this story as it was very informal to your usual narration. The crazy adventures that the first two characters that I mentioned consist of the camera man, Dudik, who is the actual narrator of the story. However, the narration goes through his camera of these two characters. There are times where it is shown that he isn't rolling his camera when the actual camera in the movie is in a fixed position of a shot of the where the scene is taking place, as opposed to the shakey camera work of Dudik.

My favorite part of the movie which shows it's true essence of Judaism is when Samantha Goldberg, the girl who is lost trying to find her Singles Tour group, goes to the Kotel, or Western Wall, to meet her group there. It is there where she changes, from her tourist exploring clothes, to a beautiful white dress for the appropriate occaision. When she reaches the Kotel, it appears as if all of her stresses from the past hours have just melted away, and she suddenly becomes more connected or bonded to her Jewish surroundings. After that, while looking out into the city from the Old City of Jerusalem, it's as if all her worries about anything have gone away. It's there that we see Dudik for the first time, and then kisses Samantha. I felt like the lesson of this story was to not always be caught up in what you're trying so hard to accomplish when sometimes it is right there in front of you. Samantha achieved that by gaining a stronger connection to Judaism and Israel through her praying at the Kotel, and in the end, she ended up being with Dudik. That was my defining Jewish moment in The Unchosen Ones.