Imagine a life in which “every morning is like waking in somebody else’s bad dream.” The British Theatre Company 1927 keenly observe urban decay and despair as it strikes its most vulnerable denizens: children. In a theatrical extravaganza of actors, live music and animation, with imaginative flair, impeccable precision, a fine sense of the bizarre and Gothic pizzazz, 1927 takes us where we might not venture on our own: the grim realities of contemporary urban life.
1927 presented The Animals and Children Took to the Streets at the Israel Festival, and …

This summer the Jerusalem Film Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary. So many wonderful Israeli films have premiered at the festival over the years, as audiences discovered new directors and actors. Providing a platform and venue for viewing and lively discussion of film, the festival has played an important role in the development of Israeli cinema. Recognizing and encouraging excellence in film, the Jerusalem Film Festival presents an exciting line-up of Israeli feature films in competition for the Haggiag Award for Best Full-Length Feature Film.

Past winners include Samuel Maoz’s Lebanon, and …

I’m tempted to skip the tedious reviewing business of summarising plot, characterisation and technical strengths of Cafe de Flore, the new film by director Jean-Marc Vallee. It would be easier to simply trot out as many cliches about what love really means as come to mind, for one thing. Lord knows, the film spends much of its time mining these for all their worth. But this would do the film a bit of a disservice – just a bit – and in any case, I didn’t end up any wiser …

Art and creativity should always have a space at the heart of the Polis, the concept of city and citizenship and independence and collective identity. In this sense, the announcement of plans to restore Bezalel, Israel’s leading academy of art of design, to a new site in the heart of Jerusalem, has both a philosophical and practical soundness. More or less. “I know that this is a loaded term in Israel, but this (move) should be thought of as a return,” Eva Illouz, President of the Academy, observed at the …

Israeli audiences will soon have the opportunity to see Ziad Doueiri’s feature The Attack at the Jerusalem Film Festival, taking place from July 4 – 13, 2013. The film embodies the controversies and complexities of this region in its subject matter – a terror attack occurring in Tel Aviv – and in its reception. Lebanese cinemas will not be showing this film, nor was it selected by Lebanon to represent the country at the Academy Awards, despite critical acclaim.
Although Doueiri had initially received permission from Lebanese authorities, the film was …

Prepare for shocks and surprises if you visit “Honey I’ve Rearranged the Collection” – a selection of works from the Phillippe Cohen collection of contemporary art, curated by Ami Barak. A believer in the questionable statement that ‘Painting is Dead,’ Cohen is an ardent collector of conceptual – ideas – art.  In fact one of his star possessions is an artwork that does not exist in material form. By the British-born artist Tino Sehgal it comprises a performance from 2002,’ bought’ from the artist in which a man walks up …

There’s no particular reason to expect bowling alleys and baby-making to sit well together. But the new French film Bowling brings the two together, efficiently if not in particularly inspired fashion, in an undemanding comedy that parses the differing temperaments of metropolitan Paris and phlegmatic Brittany.
Catherine (Catherine Frot), a human resources specialist, leaves her object d’art obsessed husband in their Paris townhouse to take up an assignment at the local hospital in Carhaix, an insular but unthreatening town in Brittany. Savings need to made: she is given to understand that …

Poet/professor Karen Alkalay Gut will be honored at Tel Aviv University with a day-long conference: What do we talk about when we talk about poetry? The conference will take place in Gilman 496, on the Tel Aviv University campus, from 9:00 – 16:00, and will be open to the public.
The conference program:
9:00 – 9:15 Gathering
9:15 – 9:30 Opening Words: Prof. Shirley Sharon-Zisser
9:30 – 10:20 First Panel. Chair: Dr. Hedda Ben-Bassat
* Dr. Noam Reisner – “The Autumn of the Body: Yeats and the art of Growing Older”
* Ron Ben-Tovim – “War …

I love Jerusalem all year round, I do, but there is something special about Jerusalem in the summer. Amid the scintillating heat and myriad events, the Jerusalem Season of Culture casts its curatorial eye on the city, presenting offerings that reveal different views and voices, opening up new perspectives on Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Season of Culture (JSOC) will open on July 1, 2013 and continue through August 23, 2013, under the baton of Executive Director Naomi Bloch Fortis; and Artistic Director Itay Mautner. The complete program with venue and ticket information …

In the historical surroundings of the Old City, the Tower of David has been an important landmark throughout Jerusalem’s history. Home to kings and queens of many nations, it is a unique meeting-place of people and cultures, which influence and are influenced by the ancient capital. Jerusalem has always been a source of inspiration in the arts. Now, the Tower of David Museum has opened two new exhibitions, which show us how Jerusalem inspires contemporary Israeli designers.
As any visitor can report, from the moment you enter the tower you’re transported …