Currently Browsing: November 2011

AJEC “Yente”

From Yente to Yenta: How a Name became a Noun A presentation to the Adult Jewish Education Cooperative Hosted by Congregation Or Shalom of Vernon Hills (IL) Mah nish tanah ha performance ha zeh? Every time I set off to see a new production of Fiddler on the Roof, the thing I most want to know […]

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Fiddler in Regina, SK

A new Fiddler on the Roof is heading towards our Auditorium Theatre at Congress and Michigan, and the “Broadway in Chicago” folks are flooding the airwaves with promo information. But times are hard and tickets are expensive. What to do? The received wisdom is that the 1971 screen adaptation is “elaborately faithful and musically nearly […]

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CFIC: 77 Steps

From October Spotlight: Tzivi’s Guide to the 2011 Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema WITASWAN RECEPTION: WITASWAN (Women in the Audience Supporting Women Artists Now) hosted a reception for filmmaker Ibtisam Mara’ana after the 77 Steps screening on Mon 10/31. Many thanks to Barbara Statland–Associate Region Director of ORT America’s Metropolitian Chicago Office–for helping to coordinate this event 🙂 […]

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CFIC: Gei Oni

From October Spotlight: Tzivi’s Guide to the 2011 Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema Tamar Alkan makes an unforgettable screen debut as “Fania” in Gei Oni (Valley of Fortitude). Fania is a refined young woman who arrives in Turkish Palestine circa 1882 traumatized by the Ukrainian pogroms which decimated her family. Moving to a settlement near […]

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CFIC 2011: Restoration

From October Spotlight: Tzivi’s Guide to the 2011 Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema My top pick in the Feature category this year is Restoration, a seemingly straightforward drama with deep resonance that is graced by two extraordinary performances. Sasson Gabai (now internationally recognized as the beloved “Lieutenant-Colonel Tawfiq Zacharya” in The Band’s Visit), stars as […]

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CFIC 2011

October Spotlight: Tzivi’s Guide to the 2011 Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema Despite deep fissures within and turmoil all around (or maybe precisely because of them), Israel continues to send forth an astonishing number of high quality films, many of which have received multiple awards at competitive festivals all around the world. New themes Sometimes […]

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