Here is a calendar of upcoming events, up and down the country. Some are organized by us, others by like-minded organizations and groups.
Investigative journalism meets conspiracy thriller as Alex Gibney (Going Clear, NZIFF15) goes on the trail of Stuxnet, the extraordinary computer virus that metastasised around the world before it arrived at its target, Iranian nuclear facilities, and performing its mission: exploding uranium-enrichment centrifuges.
Undeterred by muzzled officials, the indomitable Gibney shows how Stuxnet – or ‘Olympic Games’, as its architects called it – was cooked up covertly by the US and Israel, creating a new level of virus complexity and a new class of weapon. One of Gibney’s sources, dramatised as a composite individual and played by a digitally reconstituted actor (one of many striking visual effects), says the worm may never have come to public attention had it not been for a unilateral Israeli move to recalibrate Stuxnet’s code and accelerate its impact. A wider operation had to be abandoned, and Tehran retaliated in kind, attacking US institutions with malware and parading its own burgeoning ‘cyber army’.
Gibney manages not only to illuminate in plain terms how Stuxnet worked, but to also issue a powerful warning about the Pandora’s box it opens. Echoing ideas explored in his WikiLeaks documentary We Steal Secrets, Gibney argues that in the face of an emerging cyber-conflict threat, which is analogous to that of nuclear weapons many decades ago, international norms and rules of engagement must be developed outside the shadows of secrecy and denial. — Toby Manhire
“Zero Days is reminiscent of that scene in Skyfall when Q tells 007 that he can do more damage with his laptop before his morning cup of Earl Grey than Bond can do in a year.” — Nicholas Barber, BBC
The German-Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt left her indelible imprint on 20th-century thought by coining the concept of the ‘banality of evil’ when reporting on the 1963 trial of Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann. This spirited documentary illuminates that often abused idea and draws a larger picture of Arendt’s often conflicted engagement with the defining phenomena of her era – and maybe ours too.
Richly illustrated with historical footage, Vita Activa offers an intimate portrait of Arendt’s life and work – both deeply informed by the aftermath of World War I, the rise of Nazi Germany and its systematic elimination of European Jews.
“Directed by Israeli documentarian Ada Ushpiz, who has degrees in philosophy and history as well as filmmaking experience, Vita Activa closely examines Arendt’s ‘active life’ with the goal of putting us inside her formative experiences, the better to reveal who she was and where her attitudes came from. There are interviews with old friends and academic experts and extensive use of filmed interviews Arendt herself gave, as well as the effective reading of excerpts from her essays and letters by actress Alison Darcy. Though the talk is smart and constant here, Vita Activa also benefits from the director’s sharp eye for effective, often rarely seen newsreel and home-movie footage.” — Kenneth Turan, LA Times
“There are moments in Vita Activa, an urgent and often startling documentary from Israeli director Ada Ushpiz, where I could feel her trying to reach across the decades and talk to us.” — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon
It’s that time of the year again folks.
Please submit nominations for Committee members and President one week beforehand, being 5pm Sunday 14 August.
After the formalities are over, we will be showing the movie “The Concert.”
“The Concert” is a 2009 French comedy-drama film by Radu Mihăileanu, starring Aleksei Guskov, Mélanie Laurent and Miou-Miou.
It is about the redemption of a former world-famous conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra, known as “The Maestro,” Andrey Simonovich Filipov, who had had his career publicly broken by Leonid Brezhnev for defending Jewish musicians and is reduced to working as a mere janitor in the theatre where he once conducted, becoming an alcoholic in the process.
It won the Best Original Score and Best Sound awards at César Awards 2010. It was also nominated for two Magritte Awards in the category of Best Film in Coproduction and Best Editing for Ludo Troch in 2011, and Best Foreign Film at the 68th Golden Globe Awards.
Please bring a plate of finger food. We’d be grateful if you avoided pork or seafood products.
CANTERBURY UNIVERSITY: RAPHAEL WEIN AND NAFTALI GROSS
Tuesday October 25, 12 noon
THE NZ INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS INVITES YOU TO WHAT PROMISES TO BE AN ENGAGING AND FASCINATING ADDRESS
Ethical Dilemmas of Serving in the Israeli Defense Forces: Israel’s war against terrorism.
About the Speakers:
Raphael is a Business Administration and Political Science Student at Ariel University and is a reservist in the IDF. Naftali is a medical student at the Hebrew University and a volunteer paramedic for Magen David (the equivalent of St John’s Ambulance Service in NZ) and is also a reservist in the IDF. Both were combatants in the 2014 Gaza War.
Venue: Logie 104, University of Canterbury, Ilam, Christchurch.
A map showing the location of the venue may be obtained by clicking this link.
Admission is free
Feel free to pass this notice on to anyone else you feel may be interested.
A NZFOI Wellington Outing – Tuesday 9th May 2017 6.15pm @ Penthouse Cinema Brooklyn.
(Meet from 5.45pm for drinks first if you can)
Come along and see the movie “Denial” with other NZFOI folk. Tickets only $10.
Did you know that the Simon Weisenthal Centre’s work now is primarily geared to countering holocaust denial and pursuing holocaust deniers like David Irving. Consider what does it take legally to do this? What is the holocaust evidence?
Movie Synopsis:
A Jewish university professor in Jewish studies at an American university named Deborah E. Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz) cites historian David Irving in a book about Holocaust deniers. Pretty straight forward you would think. An open and shut case over the death of 6 million Jews. Think Yad Vashem, Auschwitz… Irving then accuses her of libel and brings an action against her. Now the tables are turned and she is the one being accused. The key issue becomes a legal battle for historical truth. As the burden of proof is placed on the accused, Lipstadt and her legal team must fight to prove the truth of the holocaust. How would you answer this question????
RSVP Joanna Moss at joannamoss@nzfoi.org or phone (04) 802 5956 or (022) 154 7865
You’re invited to a free screening of the movie “Woman in Gold.”
It is the story of Maria Altmann, an elderly Jewish refugee living in Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles, who, together with her young lawyer, Randy Schoenberg, fought the government of Austria for almost a decade to reclaim Gustav Klimt’s iconic painting of her aunt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which was stolen from her relatives by the Nazis in Vienna just prior to World War II. Altmann took her legal battle all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled on the case Republic of Austria v. Altmann (2004).
It stars Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Katie Holmes, Tatiana Maslany, Max Irons, Charles Dance, Elizabeth McGovern, and Jonathan Pryce.
A strong cast, an absorbing story.
The film scores 4.7 out of five on Amazon reviews.
Please bring a plate of finger food. The library will be open so be sure to bring your returns.
Sunday, 2pm, May 14.
Northwood Villa Clubrooms, Northwood Villas Crescent, Christchurch, 8051.
How I survived the Holocaust in Czechoslovakia
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Peter Gaspar is a Holocaust survivor and educator, who uses his experiences to help inform young people about the dangers of prejudice and discrimination. Peter was born in Bratislava in Czechoslovakia and survived the war by going into hiding. Along with his parents, Peter was hidden for three years and then during the last six months, Peter and his mother were interned in the Terezin Concentration Camp. Peter currently volunteers with the Courage to Care program in Melbourne inspiring young people to be more accepting and tolerant. This year he will also be travelling to schools throughout New Zealand, through the HOPE Project.
How I survived the Holocaust in Czechoslovakia
Please note that the venue has been changed from Room 201 to Room 203 in the same building.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Peter Gaspar is a Holocaust survivor and educator, who uses his experiences to help inform young people about the dangers of prejudice and discrimination. Peter was born in Bratislava in Czechoslovakia and survived the war by going into hiding. Along with his parents, Peter was hidden for three years and then during the last six months, Peter and his mother were interned in the Terezin Concentration Camp. Peter currently volunteers with the Courage to Care program in Melbourne inspiring young people to be more accepting and tolerant. This year he will also be travelling to schools throughout New Zealand, through the HOPE Project.
How I survived the Holocaust in Czechoslovakia
There will be public meetings also in Wellington and Auckland; keep an eye out on our website for notices of these events once the times and dates have been confirmed.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Peter Gaspar is a Holocaust survivor and educator, who uses his experiences to help inform young people about the dangers of prejudice and discrimination. Peter was born in Bratislava in Czechoslovakia and survived the war by going into hiding. Along with his parents, Peter was hidden for three years and then during the last six months, Peter and his mother were interned in the Terezin Concentration Camp. Peter currently volunteers with the Courage to Care program in Melbourne inspiring young people to be more accepting and tolerant. This year he will also be travelling to schools throughout New Zealand, through the HOPE Project.
How I survived the Holocaust in Czechoslovakia
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Peter Gaspar is a Holocaust survivor and educator, who uses his experiences to help inform young people about the dangers of prejudice and discrimination. Peter was born in Bratislava in Czechoslovakia and survived the war by going into hiding. Along with his parents, Peter was hidden for three years and then during the last six months, Peter and his mother were interned in the Terezin Concentration Camp. Peter currently volunteers with the Courage to Care program in Melbourne inspiring young people to be more accepting and tolerant. This year he will also be travelling to schools throughout New Zealand, through the HOPE Project.