Here is a calendar of upcoming events, up and down the country. Some are organized by us, others by like-minded organizations and groups.
An unsettling vision of military service pervading everyday Israeli life, Samuel Maoz’s (Lebanon) visceral and startlingly unpredictable film centres on a Tel Aviv couple coping with the death of their son, a soldier stationed in the middle of nowhere.
“Maazo’s marvelous, harrowing drama about death and life in Israel marches boldly through the no-man’s-land between realism and surrealism. It’s prize collection of paradoxes, combining an intimate, eviscerating depiction of parental grief ove ra serviceman’s death with an empathic, absurdist rendering of young Israeli Defence Force soldiers manning a remote and otherworldly roadblock…
Foxtrot carries the excitement and punch of a fearless writer-director tackling contemporary material with a bracing cocktail of potent traditional drama, wild black comedy, and serrated style. [It all] comes together as a complex plea for honesty, openness, frankness, and forgiveness. The movie is also, incidentally, a spectacularly effective antiwar film, focusing on the randomness and cruelty of life lived on military roads… Its final image resters like a blow to the chest. It’s a shot that should be seen around the world.” — Michael Sragow, Film Comment
“[Foxtrot] contains some of themost striking, memorable imagery of the year… It’s a film designed tomove you with its depiction of senseless tragedy but also to spark that part of your thinking process that only moviemaking can tap… This multitalented filmmaker has taken that darkness and turned it into something unforgettable for everyone who sees it.” — Brian Tallerico, RobertEbert.com
Awards: Grand Jury Price, Venice Film Festival 2017
Hebrew, Arabic and German, with English subtitles; 113 minutes.
An unsettling vision of military service pervading everyday Israeli life, Samuel Maoz’s (Lebanon) visceral and startlingly unpredictable film centres on a Tel Aviv couple coping with the death of their son, a soldier stationed in the middle of nowhere.
“Maazo’s marvelous, harrowing drama about death and life in Israel marches boldly through the no-man’s-land between realism and surrealism. It’s prize collection of paradoxes, combining an intimate, eviscerating depiction of parental grief ove ra serviceman’s death with an empathic, absurdist rendering of young Israeli Defence Force soldiers manning a remote and otherworldly roadblock…
Foxtrot carries the excitement and punch of a fearless writer-director tackling contemporary material with a bracing cocktail of potent traditional drama, wild black comedy, and serrated style. [It all] comes together as a complex plea for honesty, openness, frankness, and forgiveness. The movie is also, incidentally, a spectacularly effective antiwar film, focusing on the randomness and cruelty of life lived on military roads… Its final image resters like a blow to the chest. It’s a shot that should be seen around the world.” — Michael Sragow, Film Comment
“[Foxtrot] contains some of themost striking, memorable imagery of the year… It’s a film designed tomove you with its depiction of senseless tragedy but also to spark that part of your thinking process that only moviemaking can tap… This multitalented filmmaker has taken that darkness and turned it into something unforgettable for everyone who sees it.” — Brian Tallerico, RobertEbert.com
Awards: Grand Jury Price, Venice Film Festival 2017
Hebrew, Arabic and German, with English subtitles; 113 minutes.
It’s that time of the year. If you would like to nominate another member for the committee, please send your nomination to our secretary, Rebecca (contact details below).
After the AGM we will be showing a hilarious episode of “Yes Prime Minister”, the episode when PM Jim Hacker discovers what his Ministry of Foreign Affairs really thinks about Israel.
Please bring a plate of finger food. Of course, please exclude any pork and seafood products.
THE STORY OF THE JEWS
(Part I)
CHRISTCHURCH:
SUNDAY, 2PM, 18 NOVEMBER 2018
Northwood Villa Clubrooms, O’Neill Ave, Christchurch (Note the change in venue, being different than that in the newsletter, please advise your friends and other members if you know they are interested in coming).
Simon Schama presents an epic five-part series exploring the extraordinary story of the Jewish experience from ancient times to the present day. Drawing on original scholarship and Sharma’s own family history, this is a story that is at once deeply historical and utterly contemporary, taking viewers on a journey from the biblical past to tomorrow’s front pages. Travelling the globe from the Middle East to Eastern Europe, from New York and Burlington to Cairo in Jerusalem, the story unfolds with the help of a dazzling cast of historical characters, vivid storytelling, stunning location photography, and encounters with people who live with the passions and perplexities of the Jewish story today. At the heart of the story of the Jews is a compelling argument about distinctiveness and difference, separation and isolation, tolerance and prejudice, but it is also a celebration of the ways in which Jewish thought, Jewish imagination and Jewish achievement have transformed the world for us all.
In a review for The Daily Telegraph, Neil Midgley described the first episode as a “resounding success”, saying: “Schama told the story efficiently and evocatively – and deftly picked out stories that would illustrate his overarching thesis about how Judaism managed to survive…In Schama’s view, to be a Jew is to be verbal…By the end of this first episode, Schama had given the title of his programme an intriguing double meaning. Over its four remaining parts, The Story of the Jews promises to be not only a chronological history, but also a common narrative of what unifies and fortifies Jewish people”
Part 1 starts with Creation
Where: Northwood Villa Clubrooms, McNeill Ave, Northwood, Christchurch. Please note the venue is different from that published in our newsletter.
When: 2pm, Sunday November 18.
Admission: A plate of finger food. Please no pork or seafood products.
You are invited to a Hanukkiah lighting ceremony at 5pm, Tuesday December 4.
For the first time, since the earthquake, it will be held at Cathedral Square and marks a significant milestone in the rebuilding of the city.
Bring your children to hear the miraculous story of Hanukkah.
Organized by Chabad House of New Zealand.
THE STORY OF THE JEWS
(Part II)
CHRISTCHURCH:
SUNDAY, 2PM, 17 February 2019
Northwood Villa Clubrooms, O’Neill Ave, Christchurch
Simon Schama presents an epic five-part series exploring the extraordinary story of the Jewish experience from ancient times to the present day. Drawing on original scholarship and Sharma’s own family history, this is a story that is at once deeply historical and utterly contemporary, taking viewers on a journey from the biblical past to tomorrow’s front pages. Travelling the globe from the Middle East to Eastern Europe, from New York and Burlington to Cairo in Jerusalem, the story unfolds with the help of a dazzling cast of historical characters, vivid storytelling, stunning location photography, and encounters with people who live with the passions and perplexities of the Jewish story today. At the heart of the story of the Jews is a compelling argument about distinctiveness and difference, separation and isolation, tolerance and prejudice, but it is also a celebration of the ways in which Jewish thought, Jewish imagination and Jewish achievement have transformed the world for us all.
In a review for The Daily Telegraph, Neil Midgley described the first episode as a “resounding success”, saying: “Schama told the story efficiently and evocatively – and deftly picked out stories that would illustrate his overarching thesis about how Judaism managed to survive…In Schama’s view, to be a Jew is to be verbal…By the end of this first episode, Schama had given the title of his programme an intriguing double meaning. Over its four remaining parts, The Story of the Jews promises to be not only a chronological history, but also a common narrative of what unifies and fortifies Jewish people”
Part 1 starts with Creation
Where: Northwood Villa Clubrooms, McNeill Ave, Northwood, Christchurch. Please note the venue is different from that published in our newsletter.
When: 2pm, Sunday February 17.
Admission: A plate of finger food. Please no pork or seafood products.
Where: Spark Room, Christchurch Central Library, Turanga.
When: 2.00pm, Sunday, June 16.
Admission: A plate of finger food. Please avoid pork and seafood products. A collection will be taken to defray expenses.
NZ Friends of Israel wishes to acknowledge the kind support of the Holocaust Centre of NZ. This address was originally part of their Human Rights Series of lectures.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Having written over 25 books, Professor Paul Moon is one of New Zealand’s best-selling and respected historians and social commentators.
His specialist area is New Zealand history, and in 2014, he was shortlisted for the international Ernest Scott Prize in History for his book Encounters: The Creation of New Zealand, which academics described as ‘powerful’ and ‘truly fascinating’. His works have been published by Penguin Random House, and HarperCollins.
He has worked on several Treaty claims, and with numerous government agencies, on Treaty-related issues. In 2003 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society at University College, London, and has since gained fellowships in the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Arts. He also has been a consultant on documentaries about New Zealand history