The Queer Sessions at JIFF 2019

As the 2019 Jewish International Film Festival rapidly approaches, be sure to check out the festival’s rich programme. Amongst the festival’s offerings are three queer-themed films, screening at various locations in Melbourne and Sydney, as detailed below.


Family in Transition

“Defies expectations.” – The Hollywood Reporter

Amit, a father of four living in a small town in Israel, tells his wife, Galit, that he is a woman and wants to transition. Galit pledges her support, ready to overcome surgery, social stigma and bureaucracy to maintain her marriage. But as Amit transforms, tensions arise while everyone in the family readjusts to understand themselves and each other anew. In the process, Galit must redefine her own identity and what it means to be a parent, a spouse and a lover.

Winner Best Israeli Documentary at the 2018 Docaviv Film Festival.


Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life

“A quantum leap in the work of one of Israel’s leading documentary filmmakers.” – Haaretz

Jonathan Agassi is one of the world’s most successful gay porn stars. The director Tomer Heymann (Mr Gaga) followed him for eight years, both in his temporary hometown of Berlin and back in Tel Aviv with his mother. Alongside his acting, he performs in live shows and works as an escort.

Offering a rare and intimate look inside what is often a taboo world, Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life also gives us access to the unique relationship between a mother and son who courageously redefine familiar family concepts. 

Contains sex scenes and nudity.


Where’s My Roy Cohn?

“A diabolical public figure mesmerizes from the grave.” – The Hollywood Reporter

Roy Cohn was one of the most controversial and influential American men of the 20th century. An only son born to a Jewish family in the Bronx, Cohn is best known for being Senator Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel, prosecuting Esther and Julius Rosenberg, and for influencing the career of the young Queens real estate developer Donald Trump. He was a closeted man who refused to publicly identify as gay even as he was dying of Aids.

Explosive and scathingly delicious, Where’s My Roy Cohn? is a thriller-like exposé that reveals the workings of a deeply troubled master manipulator.

Congratulations Margie Fischer AM!

Aleph Melbourne congratulates Margie Fischer on being included in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Details below courtesy of J-Wire.


MEMBER [AM] IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA

Margaret Charlotte FISCHER, Hahndorf SA 5245

Margie Fischer AM

For significant service to the festival sector, and to the LGBTIQ community.

Feast Adelaide Queer Arts and Cultural Festival

  • Co-Founder 1997.
  • Committee Member and Mentor, Queer Youth Drop In, since 2014.
  • Former Artistic Director.
  • Former Deputy Chair.

Vitalstatistix – Port Adelaide

  • Board Advisor, 2014.
  • Artistic Director, 1984-1994.
  • Co-Founder, 1984.

Community – Jewish

  • Member, Chevra Kadisha, Adelaide Progressive Jewish Congregation, since 2013.
  • Member, Beit Shalom Synagogue, Adelaide Progressive Jewish Congregation, since 1995.
  • Former Member, South Australian Branch, National Council of Jewish Women Australia.

Awards and recognition includes:

  • Ruby Award, Sustained Contribution by an Individual, Arts South Australia, 2017.
  • Adelaide Citizen of the Year, 2012.
  • Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award, Arts South Australia.
  • Ros Bower Award, Australia Council for the Arts.

“It is an honour to be recognised for my work. When I heard I’d been awarded one it truly was a shock, but a good shock,” said Margie Fischer.

She regards it as a privilege to continue working with LGBTIQ artists both established and emerging, young people and Elders across gender and sexuality.

“I am an outsider and like being one. I am just drawn to people on the outside.  Everything I do is informed by my cultural background” Margie Fishcher told J-Wire.

Her parents were Holocaust survivors who came to Australia as refugees and she grew up speaking both Yiddish and Austrian at home. She continues to run the Queer Youth Drop In and Gay Bingo and work on a number of creative projects.

Aleph Melbourne at In One Voice 2019

Photograph of the vibrant Aleph Melbourne and Jewish Lesbian Group of Victoria stand at In One Voice 2019

Thanks to In One Voice for this excellent photo of the combined Aleph Melbourne and Jewish Lesbian Group of Victoria stand at the In One Voice 2019 street fair on March 17 2019.  Original photo and full gallery here.

 

20190317 In One Voice Aleph + JLGV
L to R: JLGV: Stacey, Zena and Julie; Aleph Melbourne: Gregory Storer & Michael Barnett

Such a Queer In One Voice

Aleph Melbourne, together with the Jewish Lesbian Group of Victoria, added a fantastic rainbow of diversity to the 2019 In One Voice carnival in Selwyn Street, Elsternwick.

View photos from the day on Facebook here.

Aleph Melbourne, together with the Jewish Lesbian Group of Victoria, added a fantastic rainbow of diversity to the 2019 In One Voice carnival in Selwyn Street, Elsternwick.

Posted by Michael Barnett on Sunday, March 17, 2019

 

Queer @ JIFF 2018

Enjoy the following queer offerings at JIFF 2018.  Full programme here.

JIFF 2018


THE PRINCE AND THE DYBBUK (KSIĄŻĘ I DYBUK) POLANDGERMANY / 2017

“Outstanding… one of the most amazing biographies of the 20th century.” — The Spiegel

The director of the Yiddish classic The Dybbuk is remembered as a Polish aristocrat, Hollywood producer, a rogue and liar, and an open homosexual. But who, really, was Michal Waszyński (born Moshe Waks), the son of a poor Ukrainian Jewish blacksmith, who died as Prince Michal Waszyński in Italy? Waszyński made 40 films with Sophia Loren, Anna Magnani, Orson Welles and other stars, but his most spectacular creation was his own life.

Presenting a modern take on the narrative of the Wandering Jew, The Prince and the Dybbuk asks whether it is ever possible to cut oneself off from one’s roots, and at what cost.

Winner Best Documentary on Cinema at the 2017 Venice Film Festival.

82 MINS / ENGLISH, ITALIAN, HEBREW, YIDDISH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

DIRECTOR — Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski
CATEGORY — Documentary


DEAR FREDY (FREDY HAYAKAR) ISRAEL / 2017

“People loved him. Their eyes sparkled when they talked about him, and they accept him as he was.” — Director Rubi Gat

The extraordinary story of Fredy Hirsch, a charismatic gymnast and youth leader who provided care and dignity to over 600 Jewish children.

Born in Germany, Hirsch was 19 years old when the Nuremberg Laws were published, forcing him to flee to the Czech Republic. Soon deported to Auschwitz, Hirsch used his experience to entertain and comfort the children of the camp, and collaborated with members of the underground to plan a revolt that never came to pass. Combining survivor testimony, exquisite animation and archive, Dear Fredy explores the life and legacy of an unsung queer Jewish hero.

74 MINS / HEBEW, ENGLISH, CZECH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

DIRECTOR — Rubi Gat
CATEGORY — Documentary


STUDIO 54: THE DOCUMENTARY USA / 2018

“[A] thrilling and definitive documentary [that] captures the delirium — and the dark side — of the legendary New York disco, and imprints us with an indelible portrait of the nightclub that became the apotheosis of the disco era: the freedom, the excess, the aristocracy, the pulsating pop glory.” — Variety

Studio 54 was the epicentre of 70s hedonism – a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolise an entire era. Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two Jewish friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly preside over a new kind of New York society. Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club’s hallowed threshold, this feature documentary tells the real story behind the greatest club of all time.

98 MINS / ENGLISH

DIRECTOR — Matt Tyrnauer
CAST — Steve Rubell, Ian Schrager
CATEGORY — Documentary


SAVING NETA (LEHATZIL ET NE) ISRAEL / 2016

“Touching and rewarding.” — The Jerusalem Post

Four women with nothing in common find their lives profoundly altered by an encounter with a mysterious stranger. A collection of stories spanning the seasons, each episode introduces a woman ‘on the verge’: a career police officer unable to cope with the stress of work and her teenage daughter; a lesbian cellist ambivalent about raising a child with her partner; a mother who plans to tell her children she’s getting a divorce; and a businesswoman who goes home for her mother’s funeral and must institutionalise her mentally challenged sister. Impacting each of these fractured lives is Neta, a drifter struggling with his own personal crisis.

This sensitive and thought-provoking contemplation of femininity and parenthood won the Audience Award at the 2017 Jerusalem Film Festival.

90 MINS / HEBREW (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

DIRECTOR — Nir Bergman
CAST — Benny Avni, Rotem Abuhab, Naama Arlaky, Irit Kaplan
CATEGORY — Feature


RED COW (PARA ADUMA) ISRAEL / 2018

“An intriguing tale of forbidden first love.” — The Hollywood Reporter

Benny, an only child who lost her mother at birth, lives with her fundamentalist father in a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. As her father becomes more and more obsessed with a red heifer that he believes will bring the redemption, Benny drifts further away and into the arms of Yael, a young new woman in her life. She embarks on a personal journey that will shape her religious, political and sexual consciousness.

This sensitive and assured coming-of-age film won Best Israeli Film, Best Debut Film and Best Actress at the 2018 Jerusalem Film Festival.

91 MINS / HEBREW (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

DIRECTOR — Tsivia Barkai
CAST — Gal Toren, Moran Rosenblatt, Avigail Kovari, Dana Sorin
CATEGORY — Feature


 

Aleph Melbourne documentary screens alongside Disobedience at Geelong Pride Film Festival

 

Photos from Alon Amir’s visit to Melbourne

Aleph Melbourne, together with the Embassy of Israel, hosted an intimate evening with Israeli Eurovision expert Alon Amir at Nature Boy Cafe in Murrumbeena.

View the photo gallery here.

Aleph Melbourne, together with the Embassy of Israel, hosted a Q&A evening with Israeli Eurovision expert Alon Amir.

Posted by Aleph Melbourne on Wednesday, June 20, 2018

A Night With Alon Amir (Israel’s Eurovision Expert)

Eurovision Fans !

Here is your only opportunity to get all the behind-the-scenes gossip at Eurovision. Aleph Melbourne, together with the Embassy of Israel, presents Alon Amir, the Israeli author of the book “Three Minutes of Eternity” this Tuesday 19 June for an exclusive up close Q&A with the world’s leading Eurovision expert. Ask him anything you always wanted to know about Eurovision.

Alon Amir took part in many Eurovision competitions. He served as the Head of the Press for the Israeli delegation (2009, 2012, 2013, and 2016) as well as for the Slovak (2011) and Belarussian delegations (2005). In addition, he served as an international juror numerous times in national finals in Sweden, Malta, Estonia, Bulgaria, Norway and Finland.

Alon has worked with some of the leading singers and performers in Israel, helping them to build a career and an audience. He created several TV segments with his twin brother on Israeli TV and has written for several newspapers and leading web sites. He also has had his own radio show (despite his voice).

Bookings are essential for his only Melbourne appearance.

Date: Tuesday 19th June

Time: Arrive 7:00pm for a 7:30pm sharp start

Venue: Nature Boy, 486 Neerim Rd, Murrumbeena

Getting there: Train to Murrumbeena Station / street parking available

Cost: There is no charge for this event but you must book in advance to secure your seat

Drinks will be available at bar price.

TICKETS
Book via Eventbrite
Book via Facebook

Alon Amir

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