Books, Films and TV Shows about Israel

[milgreen2]

Currently reading "A Pigeon and a Boy" by Meir Shalev. It's kind of a book club thing through our synagogue, with a wonderful educator and poetry expert, Rachel Korazim. I don't know if I'll participate in the Zoom calls later in the month (Sundays at 10:30, which is kind of a sacred exercise-followed-by-brunch time for me), but I am just loving the book. I am going to put it down for a few days because I'm getting close to the end and don't want it to be over. Seems like a good translation, but there's a lot of nuance and stuff about Israeli society and history that I'm sure goes over my head. Maybe those Zoom sessions are a good idea, after all!

 

[ItalophileNJ]

I read "The Blue Mountain" by Shalev a couple of years ago and found it a beautiful book. The last few trips to Israel, I've stopped in at the small Steimatzky store down the street from the apartment I've rented, as well as the little bookstore up the street and bought Israeli fiction that hasn't yet come to the US, or at least that I haven't seen. Maybe I'll try "A Pigeon and a Boy". Last trip I bought Amos Oz's "Tales of Love and Darkness", then new, in English and in Hebrew. I figured I'd read a couple of pages of Hebrew and then read the same in English. That didn't work too well, his gorgeous Hebrew is just much too dense for me to finish a page in a realistic period of time.

I've heard of Rachel Korazim.... I think I've seen her name of the various inter-institutional ZOOM programs I've been looking at, although I've never done one with her.

 

[Pauline]

We just finished “No Man’s Land” on StarzPlay through Amazon (in the UK). It is a France and Israel production and isn’t about Israel but is about the war in Syria, a neighbor of Israel. It was an intense series with graphic battle scenes and an interesting story about British Muslims joining ISIS and an army of women fighting them. It was filmed in Morocco and Belgium to represent Syria and England.

 

[Pauline]

Currently reading "A Pigeon and a Boy" by Meir Shalev.

I am always looking for Israeli authors in English. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Pauline]

Maybe I'll see you there! It seems there are many regular travelers to Israel who are now focussing on this coming October for a return trip.

I’ve been reading the Trip Advisor Israel forum too and people are planning to travel this fall. I’ve looked up flights several times and roughed out a trip, but we haven’t decided yet. We might wait until next spring.

 

[Jim Zurer]

Pauline...just noticed that the iPlayer is showing the recent Israeli film Foxtrot...a compelling but devastating movie about the death of a son in military service.

Foxtrot

A family must come to terms with the sudden death of their son.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Pauline]

Thanks Jim!

We are deep in season 3 of Shtisel. I don't want it to end! Season 1 was in 2013, season 2 in 2016 and season 3 starts 4 years after the end of season 2, so time has passed in the Shtisel household. Watching this show brings back all my memories of our trips to Israel. We both are looking at old photos, talking about Israel.

There is a new actress in Season 3, Daniella Kertesz, and I looked her up and she is in another Israeli TV series which sounds interesting. "Autonomies" from 2018 - Dystopian drama about Israel being split by a civil war into secular and religious states divided by a wall. It is on Amazon Prime in the US but not in the UK, but I think we might get it through Apple TV here - it is on the Topic streaming service.

Article in the Guardian:

Israeli TV show puts wall between secular and ultra-Orthodox Jews

‘This is the reality that currently exists in Israel,’ says the creator of Autonomies

www.theguardian.com

 

[Pauline]

There is a new actress in Season 3, Daniella Kertesz, and I looked her up and she is in another Israeli TV series which sounds interesting. "Autonomies" from 2018 - Dystopian drama about Israel being split by a civil war into secular and religious states divided by a wall. It is on Amazon Prime in the US but not in the UK, but I think we might get it through Apple TV here - it is on the Topic streaming service.

We were able to watch Autonomies but I do not recommend it. I loved the first two episodes but then they took the plot in a stupid direction completely ignoring the two state setup which was so interesting.