{"id":54408,"date":"2023-11-14T15:02:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T13:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=54408"},"modified":"2023-11-14T15:02:47","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T13:02:47","slug":"films-in-the-arava-desert-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=54408","title":{"rendered":"Films in the Arava Desert 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Arava Film Festival\/Photo: Edward Kaparov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A special film event fostering a sense of community and offering some respite in these difficult days will be produced by the Arava Film Festival and will take place in Zuqim from November 30 \u2013 December 8, 2023. The Central Arava Regional Council has taken in 2,000 displaced residents since October 7th<\/sup>, and is working to support their practical, social, and emotional needs. As part of this community effort, it was decided that although the annual international film festival will not take place as originally planned, a week-long event will be held, screening internationally acclaimed new films as well as original productions by local filmmakers. The Central Arava region is defined as \u201cgreen\u201d and the outdoor film screenings have been approved by the Home Front. People who have been evacuated from their homes near the border with Gaza, or from the North, are invited to attend the films free of charge.<\/p>\n

The program will include:<\/p>\n

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Fallen Leaves\/Photo courtesy of Lev Films<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finnish director Aki Kaurism\u00e4ki\u2019s new film Fallen Leaves<\/em>, which won the Jury Prize at the 76th<\/sup> Cannes Film Festival and was chosen as Finland\u2019s entry for the Best International Feature at the 96th<\/sup> Academy Awards. The comedy\/drama follows two lonely people \u2013 Ansa (Alma P\u00f6ysti), a low-level supermarket worker, and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen), an alcoholic, who meet by chance, and take the risk of falling in love.<\/p>\n

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The Boy and the Heron\/Photo courtesy of Lev Films<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Any new film by Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro<\/em>, Spirited Away<\/em>) is always anticipated with curiosity and high expectations. His latest film, The Boy and the Heron<\/em>, which opened the Toronto Film Festival, follows Mahito Maki, a boy who moves to a new town, where he discovers an abandoned tower, and a talking gray heron who takes him into a fantastic world. In a tribute to Miyazaki, his films Howl\u2019s Moving Castle<\/em> and Ponyo<\/em> will also be screened at the festival.<\/p>\n

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Memory\/Photo courtesy of Lev Films<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michel Franco\u2019s Memory<\/em> premiered at the 80th<\/sup> International Venice Film Festival and stars Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard. Sarsgaard received the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance as Saul, a widower who meets former classmate Sylvia at their high school reunion. A recovered alcoholic and social worker, the encounter disrupts the routine of Sylvia\u2019s life, raising memories of the past.<\/p>\n

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Ama Gloria\/Photo courtesy of Lev Films<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00c0ma Gloria<\/em> tells a familiar story from a different perspective, with warmth and honesty. Written and directed by Marie Amachoukeli (Party Girl, with Claire Burger and Samuel Theis, 2014 https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=30097) in her solo debut, the film follows a turning point in the life of 6-year-old Cl\u00e9o.\u00a0 A jumble of curls, energy, deep brown eyes, sweet affection, and a ready laugh, Cl\u00e9o is vividly portrayed by Louise Mauroy-Panzani, whose eloquent gaze and body language convey the intricate, inner world of a child\u2019s thoughts and feelings. Over the course of the film, Cl\u00e9o will learn to see herself and others differently, with the painterly animated sequences as a recurring motif that reflects her emotional landscape.<\/p>\n

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Zone of Interest\/Photo courtesy of Lev Films<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jonathan Glazer\u2019s Zone of Interest<\/em> is a deeply unsettling and meticulously crafted film that focuses on Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf H\u00f6ss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra H\u00fcller) as they lead a pastoral life in their lovely home, adjacent to the concentration camp. H\u00fcller delivers an outstanding performance as Hedwig, tending her garden and children, her serene veneer barely disguising her ferocious character, entirely lacking in empathy, compassion, or morals.<\/p>\n

Additional films of note that will be screened include: David Volach\u2019s Daniel Auerbach<\/em>, which won Best Israeli Feature at the 2023 Jerusalem Film Festival; Nuri Bilge Ceylan\u2019s About Dry Grasses<\/em>; Wim Wender\u2019s Perfect Days<\/em>, Ry\u00fbsuke Hamaguchi\u2019s Evil Does Not Exist<\/em>; \u00a0\u0130lker \u00c7atak\u2019s The Teacher\u2019s Lounge<\/em>; and Molly Manning Walker\u2019s How to Have Sex.<\/em><\/p>\n

A new, digitally restored version of Jonathan Demme\u2019s Stop Making Sense<\/em>, documenting Talking Heads over four nights in December 1983, will be shown at the festival. A real must-see for music lovers. Another classic film to enjoy at the festival will be Michael Cortese\u2019s Casablanca<\/em>, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Continuing the Arava Festival\u2019s tradition of fostering and supporting filmmakers from the region, three new films produced with the support of the Arava Film Fund will be shown at the festival.<\/p>\n

The initiative of the Arava International Film Festival\u2019s producer Eyal Shirai together with the Central Arava Regional Council, the event is supported by the Central Arava Regional Council, The Ministry of Culture and Sport Film Council, The Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee, Mifal HaPais, and The Ministry of Tourism.<\/p>\n

Information on the film event, local accommodations, and tickets will be available on the Films in the Arava Desert website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A special film event fostering a sense of community and offering some respite in these difficult days will be produced by the Arava Film Festival and will take place in Zuqim from November 30 \u2013 December 8, 2023. The Central Arava Regional Council has taken in 2,000 displaced residents since October 7th, and is working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[220,96,353],"class_list":["post-54408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-arava","tag-film","tag-international-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}