8th Anthropological Film Fest goes beyond the surface

The Anthropological Film Festival will take place at the Jerusalem Cinematheque from November 26-28.

By HANNAH BROWN
A scene from 'Butterfly' (photo credit: Courtesy)
A scene from 'Butterfly'
(photo credit: Courtesy)
If you are interested in what’s behind the human behavior we see around us, then the Anthropological Film Festival, which will take place at the Jerusalem Cinematheque from November 26-28, will be fascinating for you. It will show 15 films from around the world, on all types of subjects, from all different cultures.
Nurit Kedar is the artistic director of the joint project between the Jerusalem Cinematheque-Israel Film Archive and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The opening night movie will be Butterfly, directed by Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman, the story of a pretty 18 year-old girl from one of Naples’s most violent, Camorra-controlled neighborhoods, who beat the odds and made history as a boxer, competing in the Olympics. But it also tells the story of how she felt pressured from all sides. The screening will be accompanied by “Heart and Soul,” a concert of Neapolitan songs.
Another highlight of the film festival will be Scheme Birds, a documentary by Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin about a Scottish teenager, Gemma, and the people in her life who live in Jerviston, a place where you “either get knocked up or locked up.” It won the Best Documentary Feature prize at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019, as well as the Best New Documentary Director Award.
A number of directors will attend the festival and will talk to audiences following the screenings. These include Prof. Lisbet Holtedahl, from the Department of Social Sciences at the Arctic University of Tromso, Norway, who directed The Chateau, a film about a Cameroonian industrialist building a dream home for his family.
Annette Berger, the director of Closer to God (with Grete Jentzen), a film about two master Indian musicians and how they express their commitment to their work differently, will also attend the festival.
Screenings will be accompanied by talks by experts and professors from the fields that relate to films, including Dr. Dan Geva, Dr. Udi Halperin, Dr. Michal Komen and Prof. Tamar Elor.
For more information and to order tickets, go to the festival website atjer-cin.org.il.