From March ’11 Spotlight:
ARZA and AZM will co-host a screening of Aviya’s Summer (Ha Kayitz Shel Aviya) on Thursday, March 24 at 7 p.m. as part of their “Israeli Movie Night” series. I saw Aviya’s Summer years ago at the 1989 Chicago International Film Festival, and it made an indelible impression. Winner of multiple international awards, Aviya’s Summer is always mentioned in academic texts on Israeli cinema, and it is one of the films Monique Schwarz features in Mamadrama.
Aviya’s Summer is a heartbreaking depiction of life in the infant state of Israel, where hard times for all left little room for pity. Gila Almagor (“the Israeli Meryl Streep”) wrote the autobiographical screenplay, and stars here as her mother “Henya,” a mentally-ill Holocaust survivor ridiculed by neighbors and totally unable to care for her daughter “Aviya” (Kaipu Cohen) no matter how much she tries. This look backwards reminds us of the effort required to make Israel the strong nation it is today.
For program details, visit the calendar page on the Temple Judea Mizpah (Skokie) website: http://www.templejm.org.
UPDATE: Click here for an excellent guide prepared by our FeminIsrael shaliach in NYC –> ShowbillAviyasSummer
