Desire Will Set You Free | Fri 17 Mar 10:15 PM | 92 mins | Germany | 2016 | Yony Leyser Ezra (director Yony Leyser), an Israeli-Palestinian writer sunk deep into Berlin’s artistic underground, has a passing fascination with Russian hustler, Sasha (Tim Fabian Hoffman), while his acerbic friend Catherine (Chloe Griffin) attempts to sex her way free of her straight-edged girlfriend (Amber Benson, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Like the city that provides its intoxicating setting, Desire Will Set You Free is packed with influences (from Isherwood to Bowie) and is under the influence. Tick off your Berlin scenester cameos: look out for performances from Nina Hagen, Peaches, Sookee, Blixa Bargeld and beefcake-electro oddities Rummelsnuff. English and German/Arabic/Hebrew with English subtitles.
Haircut | Sun 19 Mar 6:00 PM | 2 mins | Israel | 2015 | Amir Stolar On the morning of his 29th’ birthday, Omer thinks back on his ex boyfriend Ori. This starts a journey of regrets and mixed emotions.
Barash | Mon 20 Mar 8:00 PM | 5 mins | Israel | 2015 | Michal Vinik ‘Israeli-Palestinian tensions deepen and complicate more familiar coming-out subject matter in Michawl Vinik’s vibrant debut’ – Variety
Seventeen year old Naama Barash enjoys alcohol, drugs and hanging out with her likeminded friends. When the suburban teen meets the cool, more experienced Dana they explore Tel Aviv’s nightlife and a hesitant relationship develops between them. Meanwhile Naama’s sister has gone missing from her post at a nearby military base, diverting her family’s attention away from the new developments in Naama’s life. Drawing favourable comparisons to Blue is the Warmest Colour, Barash is about the dizzy rush of first love, and an original, energetic drama that defies the stereotypes of life in Israel. Hebrew with English subtitles.
Who’s Gonna Love Me Now | Wed 22 Mar 6:15 PM | 85 mins | Israel | UK | 2016 | Tomer Heymann, Barak Heymann, Alexander Bodin Saphir “Who’s gonna love me now?” These words, spoken by an ex lover, resonate with Saar, who is HIV positive. After being barred from his Israeli kibbutz years earlier, and with his Orthodox family still unable to accept his sexuality, Saar established a new life in London, where the London Gay Men’s Chorus have become an extended family. Featuring some stirring performances from the chorus, Who’s Gonna Love Me Now? is a deeply affecting, intimate portrait of a man trying to balance his yearning for home with his desire to live life on his own terms. English and Hebrew with English subtitles
Cut | Fri 24 Mar 10:00 PM | 3 mins | Israel | 2015 | Dar Laor A quirky animation on the myths that surround what is normal and natural in the realms of gender and identity.
Fake It | Sun 26 Mar 3:30 PM | 23 mins | Israel | 2015 | Tzurit Hartzion Zohar needs more photographs for her exhibition and asks her ex, Ella, to recreate things that happened before the breakup so that she can photograph them. Is it real or are they, faking it. Hebrew with English subtitles.
Title: Aleph Melbourne – Celebrating 20 Years Duration: 9:54 (full specs below) Date of completion: 26 July 2016 Place of production: Melbourne, Australia Facebook: aleph20project
Logline
The amazing story of the group that changed the face of LGBTIQ acceptance in Jewish Australia.
Synopsis (25 words)
The amazing story of Aleph Melbourne, the support group that changed the face of LGBTIQ acceptance in Jewish Australia, from inception in 1995 to 2015.
Synopsis (37 words) The amazing story of Aleph Melbourne, the controversial support group that changed the face of LGBTIQ acceptance in Jewish Australia. Rich with archival material, take a captivating and nostalgic journey from inception in 1995 through to 2015.
Synopsis (long) Aleph Melbourne was founded in 1995 as a social and support group for gay Jewish men. Over the next 20 years this tiny organisation would have a huge impact on the Jewish community in Victoria.
Come on a roller-coaster ride and look back on the achievements and set-backs faced by this amazing group that has transformed the level of acceptance of LGBTIQ people in one of Australia’s biggest Jewish communities.
Includes interviews with key members and friends of the group, radio and TV interviews, and a fascinating collection of media and other nostalgic items.
The story is beautifully woven together with the music of Melbourne Klezmer band Klezmania.
A unique view of one of Australia’s most interesting and diverse communities.
Director Biography
Michael Barnett was born in Melbourne in 1969 to English-speaking immigrant parents of Eastern European Jewish tradition. He attended a combination of government and Jewish day schools, attended an orthodox synagogue with his family in Doncaster and was a member of the Jewish scout troop.
At the age of 26 he broke open the closet doors and accepted himself as a gay man, embarking on a journey that would set him up to be a controversial activist. Combining his skills as a photographer, radio announcer, blogger and computer geek he propelled himself head-first into fighting for equal rights for LGBTIQ people, combating youth suicide and challenging religious oppression and influence in government.
He also found himself heading up a social, support and advocacy group for queer Jews in Melbourne. He did this to raise awareness of the marginalisation and vilification he and others faced from within the Jewish community, along with wanting to provide a safe space and a voice for this sub-community.
Director Statement Aleph Melbourne turned 20 in 2015 and it felt appropriate to commemorate this milestone by making a documentary. Having played a pivotal role in much of the group’s history, together with having amassed a huge archive of material about the group I was well placed to coordinate such a project.
Funding a documentary was going to be the first hurdle to cross. We received a small community grant which kicked things off and additional funds were raised through crowd-funding. With finances in the bank I met with YouthWorx Productions, who were very happy to help tell our story.
I had a mammoth job ahead of me, as my archives were all in the one place but not very organised. I meticulously sifted through 20 years of newspaper clippings, photographs, radio and TV interviews and a variety of other miscellaneous items.
Working closely with the production team, we came up with a broad storyline. The frustrating part for me was working out what to include in the short amount of time available to us. We had enough material to fill at least an hour, so it was going to be a case of picking the absolute highlights and being extremely judicious.
It’s not often I was grateful to be unemployed, but this project might not have come to fruition if I hadn’t had the spare time available to commit to it due to having been out work for several months on end. I made the most of this time to coordinate meetings, shoots, working with the editing team and so forth.
As the finished product came together, my dream started taking shape. I wanted to provide the community with a tangible record of our journey, for posterity. I want future generations to be able to see the struggle LGBTIQ people faced in the Jewish community, from being completely taboo to being broadly accepted in the mainstream.
We now have a record of our 20 years, from 1995 to 2015. We’ve unearthed amazing archival material and brought together the people who helped make this journey possible. I’m proud to be part of this story, shared with so many amazing people, each who have made such an important contribution.
Hi-Res Image gallery (Click on individual gallery image and follow link below to hi-res image)
Interactive Online Screener / Hi-Res download (1920×1080 2.25GB MPEG-4 file)
NOTE: This cut is for cinemas that find the 591MB file too compressed (Available on request)
Credits
Director: Michael Barnett Production: YouthWorx Productions & Michael Barnett Cast: Shaun Miller, Michael Barnett, Elizabeth Syber & Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli Music: Klezmania
Technical Specifications General
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (mp42)
File size : 591 MiB
Duration : 9mn 53s
Overall bit rate : 8 344 Kbps
Codirector : codirector
Production studio : studio
ContentType : Unknown Type
Encoded date : UTC 2016-07-26 03:38:34
Tagged date : UTC 2016-07-26 03:38:34
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Baseline@L5
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Muxing mode : Container profile=Baseline@4.1
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 9mn 53s
Bit rate : 8 185 Kbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.158
Stream size : 579 MiB (98%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 1950-07-26 03:38:34
Tagged date : UTC 1950-07-26 03:38:34
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 9mn 53s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 154 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Frame rate : 43.066 fps (1024 spf)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 10.9 MiB (2%)
Title : Stereo
Language : English
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1
Encoded date : UTC 1950-07-26 03:38:34
Tagged date : UTC 1950-07-26 03:38:34
This year’s Jewish International Film Festival includes a selection of films to tempt those looking for queer themes. Click on the film title for the offical JIFF page and session details in Melbourne and Sydney.*
“…fresh, frank look at coming out and coming of age in contemporary Israel” — Variety
“A female-focused Israeli rebel romance” — The Hollywood Reporter
Described as the Israeli Blue Is the Warmest Color, Barash vividly captures the heady energy and infatuation of youth, set against the backdrop of the Arab-Israeli conflict. With conservative, detached parents and an older sister who has mysteriously vanished from the IDF, 17 year old Na’ama is bored of her sleepy suburbia. But when a new girl appears at school, she sends shockwaves through Na’ama’s rigid domestic sphere, propelling her headlong into a dizzying world of sex and drugs.
A vibrant coming-of-age tale, Barash premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival, and won Best Script, Best Actress and Best Actor at Haifa International Film Festival.
— 85 MINS / HEBREW (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) DIRECTOR — MICHAL VINIK
David and Khaled are happily in love, poised to marry. Their attempts for matrimonial harmony are thwarted by family foibles: a homophobic father, a pseudo-orthodox Jewish mother, and an unexpected pregnancy. The two men have a few things to straighten out before they can say their vows and live happily ever after. An endearing and wacky family comedy.
— 85 MINS / GERMAN (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) DIRECTOR — HANNO OLDERDISSEN
Germany, 1957. Attorney General Fritz Bauer receives crucial evidence on the whereabouts of the so-called ‘Architect of the Holocaust’, Adolf Eichmann. Bauer, himself Jewish, has been trying to take crimes from the Third Reich to court ever since his return from exile, but has been stymied by an unforgiving German government. Bauer covertly elicits the help of the Israeli secret service to bring Eichmann to justice, and, in doing so, commits treason against Germany.
With fast-paced direction from Lars Kraume (Tatort), The People vs. Fritz Bauer is a historical thriller that exposes the elusiveness of evil while celebrating the tenacious heroism of Bauer. Audience Award winner at the Locarno International Film Festival, and winner of six 2016 Lolas (German Oscars), including Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay.
IN HONOUR OF Peter Sharon Ivany for their support of Jewish Film in Australia
— 105 MINS / GERMAN (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) DIRECTOR — LARS KRAUME
“A heady, sometimes headlong blend of fable and nightmare, with overtones of David Lynch and Franz Kafka…” — NY Times
Compelling, memorable and visually spectacular, Avishai Sivan’s sophomore film tells the story of a young Hasidic student who undergoes an immense spiritual crisis. Haim-Aron is the son of an overbearing butcher, and a devout and methodical follower of the scriptures: adhering to rituals and traditions of his faith with a bored detachment. A freak accident and a (near) death experience change everything, as Haim-Aron finds himself at odds with his sexuality and religious beliefs.
Magnetising audiences with its bold depictions of sexuality and faith, Tikkun is a stylish and unsettling film that offers a visceral and tumultous experience of a man struggling against repressive forces. Winner of Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography, Best Script and Best Actor at Jerusalem Film Festival, and the Silver Leopard Prize at 2015 Locarno Film Festival.
— 121 MINS / HEBREW, YIDDISH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) DIRECTOR — AVISHAI SIVAN
“Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me doesn’t just have all the elements of a cinematic feat; it is one.” — Nisimazine
Muhammed is a young Israeli Palestinian man, meandering along the fringes of society. He is sexually and culturally confused and is drifting aimlessly through life. He is drawn in by the enigmatic Gurevitch, a motorbike-riding mechanic and the two begin an illicit and dangerous relationship. With a cast composed of non-actors, Israeli director, Hadar Morag, has created a visceral and immersive landscape, and a filmworld permeated by a sense of unease. Premiered at Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti Competition.
— 94 MINS / HEBREW, ARABIC (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) DIRECTOR — HADAR MORAG
Today I received a copy of the Bialik College newsletter Shelanu (Issue 4, Sep 2015). On the back page is a list of Births, Engagements and Marriages. Ever hopeful, my eye was caught by the marriage announcement of 2004 student Deborah Konopnicki to Amy Hespe. Ground breaking news. Mazal Tov!
To the best of my knowledge Deborah is the first female past student of Bialik College to marry a same-sex partner and the first to be announced in the school newsletter. As a past student of Bialik College myself (1981-83) I am probably the first (male) past student of the school to marry a same-sex partner, having travelled to New Zealand in January 2014 to undertake the formalities.**
Aleph Melbourne wishes Deborah and Amy many years of happiness together (alongside all the other Bialik married couples). Hopefully our marriages to our same-sex partners can be solemnised and/or recognised under Australian law sooner than later.
MB.
** We’ll gladly acknowledge as first any former student of Bialik College who has earlier married a same-sex or gender-diverse partner.
MEDIA RELEASE ALEPH MELBOURNE MARKS 20 YEARS WITH HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY SEPTEMBER 10 2015
Aleph Melbourne is a social, support and advocacy group for same-sex attracted and gender diverse (LGBTIQ) people in Melbourne’s Jewish community.
Aleph Melbourne was formed in 1995 and is marking it’s 20th anniversary by making a short documentary. The movie will cover all aspects of the group and the significant and positive impact it’s had on the community over the past 20 years.
Glen Eira City Council have given Aleph Melbourne a small grant of $3,300 for the project and we have engaged Youthworx Productions to make the documentary. We aim to raise $10,000 to allow us to comfortably make 10-15 minutes of footage. Additional funding will be gratefully welcomed to allow us to include more history, stories, interviews, photos, newspaper articles etc.
We are crowd-funding through IndieGoGo with all details are available at: https://igg.me/at/aleph20
Major and premier (corporate) sponsorship packages are available. Individual contributors are invited to select from packages that allow participation and acknowledgement in the documentary.
Aleph Melbourne Convenor Michael Barnett said “I am very excited in marking this important milestone by making a documentary of Aleph Melbourne at 20 years. It is vitally important to record the history and achievements of our small group. People will look back in years to come and understand the particular challenges of the time we lived in, in terms of recognition, acceptance and understanding of our sexual orientation or gender identity.”
The documentary is expected to be completed in the first half of 2016 however the initial crowd-funding campaign has a closing deadline of October 8.
Australian Jewish News, October 28 2016
