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| Circumcise Me |
Circumcise MeDavid Blumenfeld & Matthew Kalman, 45 mins, Israel, 2008, English Yisrael Campbell looks more like a rabbi than a comedian, but don't be fooled by the big black hat, frock coat and Hassidic side-curls. An Orthodox Jew, he is seriously funny and his life story will leave you laughing long after you have finished watching his hilarious comedyperformance film.
Born Christopher Campbell, the son of an ex-nun and a Catholic schoolteacher - that is to say, of Irish-American stock - he converted to Judaism, including a symbolic circumcision, not once but three times. Yes, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox, before being certified fully Kosher - hence the title of the film. ("I told the rabbi, 'I'll do a third circumcision.' But three circumcisions is not a religious covenant. It's a fetish.")
We catch Campbell on stage in Jerusalem, delighting audiences with his celebrated stand-up show, and follow him around the holy city, where we experience life in Israel from a unique perspective. Campbell's spiritual journey began as a drug-drenched teenager in Philadelphia and ended in Jerusalem among the suicide bombs of the intifada that took the lives of two of his best friends. So what's to laugh about? Just watch this wonderful movie.
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| Dancing Alfonso |
Dancing AlfonsoBarak Heymann, 50 mins, Israel, 2007, Hebrew, French & Moroccan Arabic with English subtitles An entertaining documentary from Barak Heymann, who with brother Tomer has been hailed as Israel's and documentary's answer to the Coen Brothers!
This is a humorous and pitch-perfect portrait of a gaggle of senior citizens who, in their twilight years, have found joy and community as members of a troupe of older flamenco dancers in Tel Aviv. Though their average age is more than 75, the troupe is serious and preparing for an important performance at the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv.
The film's main character is Alfonso, a handsome and powerful dancer. A widower, Alfonso begins to court one of the other dancers, Sima, much to the surprise of his children, who are still mourning the loss of their mother. When things don't work out with Sima, Alfonso, imbued with an unquenchable life force, starts searching for another woman with whom he can dance and share his life.
Full of quirky humour and surprises,
Dancing Alfonso provides its viewers with a novel and unfamiliar portrait of the inner world of older people, and with a fresh look at our endless, but ever hopeful, search for someone to love.
