Month: February 2021

The Fourteenth Annual Ring Family Wesleyan University Israeli Film Festival, 2021 will be inaugurated with a free screening of the first episode of the hit series, Valley of Tears, followed by a conversation with the writer and creator of the series, Ron Leshem. The presentation is scheduled for Thursday, February 25, 2020, 6:00 PM. A Zoom link for watching Valley of the Tears will be available 48 hours before the presentation. To get the Zoom link for the free watching as well as the presentation link, please register on our website. It might be easier to register to all events at one time. The website also contains trailers to all events.

http://iff.site.wesleyan.edu/

 Directed by Yaron Zilberman, the same director of the movie Incitement  screened in last year’s film festival, this 10 episodes series, currently streamed at HBO Max, is inspired by the true events of the 1973  Yom Kippur War. This harrowing drama series focuses on the universality of heroism and sacrifice through four intertwined stories; a journalist searching for his estranged, newly-enlisted son; a commander and an intelligence analyst forced to flee their base near the Syrian border; three friends and Black Panthers activists on a tank crew facing political and personal conflicts; and a female officer who remains on the frontlines, despite orders to evacuate. Through its magnified, unflinching lens, Valley of Tears reveals the tension, anxiety, and trauma of a fateful war.

Ron Leshem, the creator of Valley of Tears is back by popular demand. Last semester he talked about the success of Israeli TV shows in Hollywood. On Thursday he will talk about  Valley of Tears. He is an award-winning screenwriter and author and the winner of the Sapir Prize, Israel’s top literary award. Leshem was the co-creator and the writer of the Israeli TV show Euphoria (HBO). He was a producer of the successful Israeli TV show Chatufim adapted into the American hit TV show Homeland. Ron Leshem also wrote the movie script for Incitement, which won the Israeli Academy Award.

On behalf of the Center for Jewish Studies and with the co-sponsoring of the College of Film and the Moving Image, it is my pleasure to announce the 14^th Annual Ring Family Wesleyan University Israeli Film Festival, 2021. This year the festival, which goes virtually for the first (and hopefully the last) time, will feature the best and the most recent work by leading Israeli and international figures. The festival will be inaugurated by a multimedia presentation by Ron Leshem, the creator and writer of the successful TV show, Valley of Tears. Ron Leshem is back by popular demand from people who missed his talk last semester about the success of Israeli TV shows in Hollywood. Ron Leshem is the writer and creator of the Valley of Tears which plays now on HBO Max. His multi-media presentation is scheduled for Thursday February 25 at 6PM. A link for a free viewing of the first episode of Valley of Tears will be available to those who register on our website 48 hours before the talk. The registration website for all events ishttp://iff.site.wesleyan.edu/

Following this opening event, I am delighted to present a CT Premiere of the movie Here We Are. A description and a trailer is available on our website. The link to a free viewing of the film as well as the link to the talk is available 48 hours before the talk which is scheduled for on March 4 at 4 PM. The talk is scheduled earlier than usual because the film’s director, Nir Bergman, will be joining us from Israel (thanks to Avner Shavit, the visiting scholar of the Center for Jewish Studies). This is a feel good movie necessary for anyone who needs to keep the spirits up.

Finally, again back by very popular demand, the internationally acclaimed writer and winner of the prestigious Chevalier de Arts award, Etgar Keret, is returning once again to Wesleyan. On March 11 at 4 PM we will screen a short movie “Outside”, a COVID Fairy Tale, based on a short story Etgar Keret first published in the New York Times Magazine, as well as conduct an international live on line conversation with him. Please registrar on our website http://iff.site.wesleyan.edu/ to get a link to attend this event.

The Film festival is curated by Dalit Katz, and sponsored by the Ring Family, The Center for Jewish Studies and the College of Film and the Moving Image.