So many films, so little time

Annual festival features controversy, life lessons and racy comedy.

The 16th Annual Vancouver Jewish Film Festival (VJFF) has begun. Running until May 20, it offers viewers a wide range of choices, from documentaries to dramas, with a little humor thrown into the mix. The Bulletin had a chance to view some of the 60-plus movies being presented. Here's what we thought about them.

The "complete" Jews?

I will admit that I had already decided what I thought of the film The Chosen People and its subject matter before I watched it. I will also say that this film is very well done. It tackles a number of issues head-on and allows both Jews for Jesus, as well as their conterparts, Jews for Judaism, a chance to speak.

I've always considered Jews for Jesus, otherwise known as Messianic Jews (I find this name misleading, as though Jews do not have the concept of a Messiah already) a little disconcerting and slightly offensive. They believe in Jesus as Messiah and they refer to Jesus by his Hebrew name, Yeshua, in an attempt to "bring him home."

The film concentrates on the City of David Church/Synagogue in Toronto, but visits communities in Israel and Hungary as well. Most interviewees are members of Jews for Jesus and it is a pair of sisters, originally from a Jewish family, who have the greatest impact. Both are spiritual seekers, both have had difficult moments in their young lives and both have committed themselves to Jesus, hoping that one day their father will follow their example and be permitted to join them in heaven.

This movement has close ties to a fundamentalist evangelical Protestantism with a heavy dose of Christian rheotric, and adds particular aspects of Judaism (like kippot, tallitot, Hatikvah and the hora). They insist that, because of their reliance on the "scriptures" (both Jewish and Christian), they are the "complete Jews." They reject Jewish Oral Law, denigrating it as "rabbinical" and, therefore, false, mere tradition that has led false Jews astray. Those who work for the countermissionary organization Jews for Judaism insist that this proselytizing missionary group is inflicting a "spiritual holocaust" on the Jewish people.

The only problem with the filmmaking is a strangely misplaced, melodramatic musical interlude that featured long shots of trains and train tracks in Hungary. Is this some attempt to conjure images of the Holocaust?

Despite its flaws, The Chosen People is a fascinating look at a group that some might say succeeds in capitalizing on the spiritual void in people's lives by appearing as a wolf in sheep's clothing. It is worth seeing.

The Chosen People plays Sunday, May 9, 7 p.m., at the Norman Rothstein Theatre, with director Igal Hecht and Rabbi Michael Skobac of Jews for Judaism in attendance. In English, Hebrew and Russian with English subtitles.

– Basya Laye

Oh, to be young again

If you had a chance to be young again, would you take it? What if it meant forgetting your spouse, your children, your grandchildren ... the life you had lived?
All I've Got is a thoughtful – and at times humorous – look not only at second chances but at how you can have a full life even after you encounter tragedy. Tamara was in a car accident when she was 23 years old. It took the life of her first love, who she describes to the paramedic at the scene as all she had, she "came there [to Israel] for him."

The next time we see Tamara is at the "transit post to the afterlife." She has passed away at age 75 and she is presented with the chance to be 23 again and live out eternity with her boyfriend Uri, who has been waiting for her in the afterlife since the accident, more than 50 years. The catch is that, in order to do this, she must relinquish all her memories of the life she has lived with her husband, children and grandchildren. Her other option is to remain a 75-year-old woman with all her life's memories intact. A game of rock-paper-scissors decides her fate.

All I've Got plays at the Norman Rothstein Theatre on Sunday, May 9, at 9 p.m.

– Cynthia Ramsay

Life without parents

Adriana Lewi was only a year and a half old when she and her parents were kidnapped by the Argentine military. While her abductors eventually handed her over to her maternal grandparents, Lewi never saw her parents again. Looking for Victoria follows Lewi's incredibly emotional search to find out more about her parents.

During the military dictatorship in Argentina, from 1976 till 1983, about 30,000 citizens were kidnapped, including 2,000 Argentine Jews. Lewi's father was Jewish, her mother Catholic. While the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla persecuted Jews, it also endeavored to dispose of any opposition to its power. Lewi finds out that her father, and perhaps her mother, were members of the radical left-wing Montoneros, a guerilla group that took up arms – and organized bombings and hostage-takings – when the dictatorship's death squads started killing people.

Lewi revisits old neighbors, speaks with survivors who had been in prison with her father and tries to make her family's story known, so that perhaps some justice can prevail (the murderers are known, but were granted amnesty when "democracy" prevailed). She also speaks with family members about her parents – her aunt admits that the family has grieved all these years in silence, each alone.

This documentary will make you cry. It is hard to watch Lewi as she takes in each bit of new information about her parents. Her longing is painful to watch – as much as you'd like to, you can't reach into the screen and give her a hug.

Looking for Victoria, which is in English and Spanish with English subtitles, is at Pacific Cinémathèque, Tuesday, May 11, at 9 p.m., preceeded by a short film about abstract artist Marvin Shwartz called The Provider. Lewi will be in attendance.

– Cynthia Ramsay

Ugandan lesson in pride

The first time I heard about the Abayudaya of Uganda, it was the year 2000 and I was in New York. I just happened to visit a woman whose father was involved in raising awareness about this far-flung community and their hard-fought struggle to be officially converted to Judaism. My initial reaction upon hearing about them was delight and surprise – here was a group of Ugandans who had been living and identifying as Jews for close to a hundred years in a veritable vacuum! I began watching Moving Heaven and Earth with this same feeling of anticipation, as though I would be able to sneak a peek into the lives of Jews I've always wanted to know, but don't. And herein lies the problem. It is difficult to make a film like this and not fall into the trap of "othering," of classifying the Abayudaya as "exotic," "different" and, frankly, "African." There are scenes of Abayudaya immersing in the mikvah, unclothed of course, as well as enduring a symbolic circumcision, and I couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't a bit too "National Geographic does Africa" and not quite respectful.

But, while being very aware of the problems with this film, I did enjoy it immensely. Moving Heaven and Earth explores the fundamental question, "who is a Jew?" as well as the contentious, "who gets to decide who is a Jew?" The film never lost my interest and features interviews with numerous Abayudaya as well as the North American rabbis who assisted with their conversion. The rabbis' obvious glee in welcoming this community into the family of world Jewry was palpable. A film like this reminds us that Jews do not look a certain way, do not speak a certain language or hail from the same corner of the earth. If the Abayudaya can decorate their homes with Jewish symbols and endure the dictatorship of Idi Amin Dada, it is a wonder that in North America we do not display one-half of this pride when it comes to outwardly identifying ourselves as Jews.

Moving Heaven and Earth screens at Oakridge Cinemas in English, Thursday, May 13, 7 p.m., with directors Debra Gonsher Vinik and David Vinik in attendance. It repeats at Oakridge Cinemas, Sunday, May 16 at 4:30 p.m., preceeded by My Brother's Wedding.

– Basya Laye

Mideast perspectives

Movie-goers can consider Moments Israel 2002 a buy-one-get-17 situation. The film is made up of 17 short films that take an artistic look at some of the many different views and perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some will be upsetting to viewers, while others will make them chuckle.

One of the more disturbing films is Status Quo. It portrays a video game in which Israeli soldiers are chasing a Palestinian female, carrying a bomb, who continues to yell "Allah is all mighty." Ironically, the two-player game is being controlled by children who refer to themselves as brother and sister.

Another, titled You for Your Mother, features a handful of Palestinian children ages five to eight and their understanding of the conflict. With the stereotypical frankness of children, one child, when asked what should be done to stop all the killing, answers, "Stop the bull - - - -. "

Many of the films have a political bent, but others offer lighter fare. 72 Virgins offers an unusual technique that might push the peace process ahead, suggesting that a certain sexual act might motivate Yasser Arafat to reveal his conciliatory side.

Moments Israel 2002 contains mature language and content. It screens Wednesday, May 19, 9:30 p.m., in the Norman Rothstein Theatre. It is preceded by Hora, a Canadian short film about the history of the hora dance and its use as a metaphor for Israeli society.

– Kyle Berger

The festival has screenings at the Norman Rothstein Theatre (950 West 41st Ave.), Oakridge Cinemas (601-650 West 41st Ave.) and Pacific Cinémathèque (1131 Howe St.). Programs are available at the above venues, the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture (6184 Ash St.), select VanCity locations and at various merchants throughout the Lower Mainland. There are a range of ticket prices and they can be purchased by phone at 604-488-4300, online at www.vfjj.org or in person at the VJFF ticket booth at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. For more information, please call 604-266-0245 or e-mail [email protected].

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