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By: Max Olijnyk
Date: 7th Nov 07
Medium: Performance
Drink: Bottle of red
What:
2007 Festival of Jewish Cinema
Where:
ACMI, Federation Square,
When:
Wed Nov 7 - Sun Nov 25
How much:
Tickets to Gary Lucas & The Golem $37
All other screenings: $16 per session / seven film Gold Pass $87.50
Image:
Still from Jellyfish
Male models, fish hooks in the face, endless self-examination and Dixieland jazz. All too often, we rely on film for most of our cultural reference points. And if, like me, your exposure to Jewish culture has been through the fine work of Woody Allen and Ben Stiller, it's possible we are not receiving a very well-rounded picture. Luckily, a refresher course is available down at ACMI starting this Friday at the 2007 Festival of Jewish Cinema.
The kick-off of the festival will be a rare screening of the 1920s silent superhero epic The Golem, a film that was seen to be so empowering to Jewish people that Hitler ordered all copies to be burnt. The screening is made extra-special by a live accompaniment by New York guitar virtuoso Gary Lucas, who has worked with such luminaries as Jeff Buckley, Captain Beefheart and Lou Reed.
Also featured in the festival are works by some of Jewish cinema's most talented modern filmmakers such as Eytan Fox, whose film The Bubble was a prize-winner at this year's Berlin Film Festival, and Shira Geffen and Etgar Keret, who together won the Camera d'Or for Best First Feature at Cannes earlier this year for Jellyfish.