January 10th marked the beginning of a new cultural club in Ann Arbor’s Jewish Community: The Israeli Movie club. Initiated by Ann Arbor’s Community Shaliach, Amichay Findling, and Curated by Tamar Kay, an Israeli film maker and current Frankel Fellow, The Israeli movie club will present four Israeli movies that deal with marriage and divorce. The screenings will take place at the JCC and will be followed by a presentation by Tamar and a community potluck dinner.
The first movie shown was “Late Marriage” (Hatuna Meuheret) by Dover Kosashvili. The 2001 film was positively reviewed and was Israel’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards. The community meeting was vivid, and many got a chance to break bread with old and new friends in their native language: Hebrew.
The film Series’ presenter and curator, Tamar Kay, is a four-time Israeli Academy Award nominee. Her thesis film, The Mute’s House, was shortlisted for the 2017 Best Short Documentary Academy Award (Oscars) and won numerous awards in prestigious festivals. Unchained, an Israeli TV drama Tamar co-created, premiered in 2019 on the Israeli KAN channel and was purchased by SBS in Australia. Tamar has edited a number of documentary films & TV series, some of which won Israeli Emmy awards. Currently she’s working on a feature-length film with the support of the Rabinovich Foundation. Tamar is a graduate of the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School. Prior to her film studies, Tamar completed a dual degree in Psychology & Philosophy. Currently she’s a fellow at the Frankel Institute for Judaic studies, University of Michigan.
The rest of the series is planned to take place on the following dates, all in the JCC, Wednesdays at 6:30 PM:
March 6th: Fill the Void (2012) by Rama Burstein
May 1st: In Between (2016) by Maysaloun Hamoud
June 26th: Unchained (2019) Tamar Kay: watching a chapter of the series and discussion with the creator.
For further information please contact Amichay Findling by E-mail: amichay@jewishannarbor.org.