15 minutes of fame

Ma’aleh Film School celebrates another graduation with original short films, the culmination of two years of creative work by the graduates.

By HANNAH BROWN
Asi Tzobel's 'Stand Up' 521 (photo credit: 'Stand Up')
Asi Tzobel's 'Stand Up' 521
(photo credit: 'Stand Up')
As the Ma’aleh School of Television, Film and the Arts in Jerusalem prepares for the ceremony on December 30 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque that marks the graduation of a new class, it’s clear that the graduates and their work defy any categorization.
Ma’aleh, which was established 21 years ago, is unique among Israeli film schools in that it is committed to exploring Jewish life through film, and because of that, its students are primarily observant Jews and those whose Jewish identity is central to their lives.
This year’s films by the graduates were screened last week and will be showing in the coming year at film festivals throughout Israel and the world. A film by a recent graduate, Eliran Malka’s 71 Square Meters, won the prize for the Best Short Film at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival earlier this month.
Neta Ariel, the director of Ma’aleh, said, “This year’s graduates have made films that are very personal. There is no one theme that is common to all except that they all express the most personal yearnings and feelings of their directors.”
She mentioned Daniel Tzur’s Normal as an example of a uniquely personal story. “It’s a documentary and it’s how his father was disabled in an accident and how it affected his family, how it tore them apart. And he made it just as he was about to get married and wanted to understand what his family had gone through.”
In Israel, student filmmakers sometimes have the privilege of working with established actors, and graduate Tzvi Yehuda Herling featured the late Israeli film and stage star Amos Lavi – in what turned out to be his last role – in his movie The Divide (Hamavdil). The film is about a soldier who returns to his home in Samaria only to learn that his family is about to be evicted from their home.
In Silence, Tom Dadon Mishaly’s film about a female religious soldier who is raped during her army service, will be sure to generate controversy.
Another film that will have people talking is Asi Tzobel’s Stand Up. It tells the story of Dudi, a young yeshiva student, whose dream is to be a stand-up comic and who keeps his performances at a nightclub a secret from his friends and family. His wife is about to give birth, and he has to decide whether to tell her about his performing career.
“It’s a funny story, but it’s bittersweet,” Ariel said about the film. “It has a lot of humor in it, but it tells a real story about how creative people have to struggle sometimes to find acceptance.”
The director is also an actor, Ariel noted.
While most of the filmmakers are quite young, others are a bit older and bring some life experience to their work. Shmuel Minkov’s documentary Alone gives a rare glimpse into the lives of three divorced haredi women. Minkov, the father of seven, was able to persuade his subjects to be interviewed about a subject that is sometimes seen as something to be ashamed of.
Efrat Kaufman’s Why the Sun is about a girl who can’t fit in at her religious boarding school.
“There’s a kid like this in every class,” said Ariel. “People leave this film with a smile.”
Prizes will be awarded to the graduates at the ceremony and Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat and MK Uri Orbach will participate. Composer Nahum (Nahcha) Heymann who contributed music to the students for their films, will also take part. This musical gift was a huge help to student filmmakers, who often cannot afford to pay for the rights to music for their films.
All the students want to keep working in the film industry, said Ariel, but many do not yet have jobs lined up, since “they were working on their films until the last minute, in some cases. People don’t realize the commitment that this course of study takes, what it’s like to work for two years on a 15-minute film.”
Ariel emphasized that the school is looking for “students who are creative in writing, and visually creative. Having technical experience is not necessary, but you have to have a strong character. Film school is a long process and it’s very demanding, emotionally, physically and financially. The main thing is: You have to have something to say.”