City Notes: Fall into the arts

As summer fades and the air grows crisper, cozy up for premier film, theater, music and literature events across Israel.

Singer-songwriter Mariana Maximilian. (photo credit: DANIEL KAMINSKY)
Singer-songwriter Mariana Maximilian.
(photo credit: DANIEL KAMINSKY)
NORTH
Film fun
Catch the tail end of the 33rd Haifa International Film Festival today and tomorrow, October 13 and 14. Friday’s lineup includes an array of films in English, Hebrew, Afrikaans, Portuguese and more, with full feature-length and shorter options available. Almost all films are slated to have both English and Hebrew subtitles. Tickets must be purchased for individual films and the average price is NIS 46 per person.
The festival also offers “family fun in the piazza,” with free film screenings like Gremlins (Saturday at 7 p.m.) and The Corpse Bride (Saturday at 9:30 p.m.)
For more info: www.haifaff.co.il/eng, (04) 810-3471 or *9300 for the box office.
Easy Life
Two years after the her successful “Step into My World” tour, Israeli singer- songwriter Mariana Maximilian wraps up her “Easy Life” tour with a final performance tonight, October 13, at Zappa Amphi Shuni, in Jabotinksy Park, Binyamina, with guest star legendary Shalom Hanoch. The concert will combine the rich and diverse musical worlds of both of Maximilian’s albums, including songs like “Tango, “Hurricane” and “1990,” as well as new arrangements in collaboration with Assaf Amdursky, and will feature an expanded ensemble.
• Doors open at 7:30 p.m., the show begins at 9 p.m., and tickets are NIS 149 each. For more information, check out www.zappa-club.co.il/
CENTER
Theater for tykes
The Mediatheque Theater in Holon continues its award-winning content for kids with two Hebrew-language family- friendly productions to wrap up its Sukkot season:
The Children of the Tree House:
Eran’s father built him a tree house when he was in kindergarten, and since then it has been the primary hangout of Eran and all of his friends. Now, a new neighborhood being built nearby means the oak grove and the tree house inside it are about to be cut down. The kids rally to save the woods – and the tree house! (For ages 8 and up, Saturday, October 14 at 10:30 a.m., NIS 75 per person.)
Butterflies in the Stomach: A theater experience for the little ones. The wordless show combines music, video art, animation, puppets and shadow play, telling the story of a girl chasing butterflies. She invites the children in the audience to participate in the pursuit of the butterflies and introduces them to the magical world of theater. There are plenty of surprises for the kids, who become an integral part of the event. (For ages 2 to 5, October 14 at 11 a.m., NIS 45 per person.)
• The Mediatheque Theater, Holon, 6 Golda Meir Blvd. For tickets: (03) 502-1552 or www.mediatheque.org.il
Divorce Daf Yomi
Grownups have the chance to meet face-to-face with Jerusalem’s own debut memoirist Ilana Kurshan at the launch of her highly anticipated If All the Seas Were Ink. As Haviva Ner-David wrote in her review for The Jerusalem Post: “What happens when a highly literary and intelligent woman who has just emerged from a traumatic divorce decides to start studying Daf Yomi (the internationally synchronized practice of studying one page of Talmud per day and thus completing the entire Talmud in 7.5 years)? A unique memoir like If All The Seas Were Ink emerges.”
The book begins with Kurshan’s experiences relating to the High Holy Days tractates, so it’s especially timely reading.
• The official book launch will be held on Thursday October 19, at 7:30 p.m., at the Fuchsberg Center, 8 Agron Street, Jerusalem, and will begin with a short reception.
SOUTH
Get glowing
Ready to create something yourself? Check out the second annual GLOW self-expression festival, October 19 to 21 in Mitzpe Ramon. In its own words, “The festival opens the possibility for each participant to express himself in self-expression workshops, on open stages and in the central space. Unlike other festivals, the GLOW Festival is a festival belonging to its participants. You create your experience by sharing your gifts and receiving gifts from others.”
Activities will include a colorful “glow party,” impressionists, workshops around singing, sound design, theater, dance, freestyle rap, intuitive painting, improvisation, writing and more. There will also be platforms for all kinds of performance, from comedy to musical ensembles. Additionally, there will be live shows by Shiri Shahar, Yogev Levy, Jamie Gordon, Brioni and more.
• Advance tickets are NIS 311 to NIS 355 and at the door it will cost NIS 370, with kids 12 to 18 priced NIS 50 and kids under 12 admitted free. For tickets, go to eventbuzz.com/glow2. Accommodations range from tents to cabins to dorm rooms. Contact (08) 949-5967 or booking@meeverland.com for questions and reservations regarding accommodations. The entire spectacle will take place at Me’ever, 4 Haboker Street, Mitzpe Ramon.