Academic Themes

#AnneFrank. Parallel Stories

About the Film 
Anne Frank’s immortal words are revived for the hashtag generation via social media, as Oscar-winning Helen Mirren breathes new life into the famous diary. This modern retelling of Anne’s story carries the gifted diarist’s legacy forward in powerful new ways.
Genre 
Documentary
Running Time 
90 minutes

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Advocate

About the Film 
In this DocAviv best film winner, a controversial Jewish lawyer pushes Israeli courts to the limit in an unwavering defense of Palestinian rights. For nearly 50 years, Lea Tsemel has represented Palestinian prisoners in what she views as a rigged legal system. High-profile court cases are juxtaposed with flashbacks to her leftist awakening and attempts to raise a family, as this outspoken anti-establishment figure is astutely examined.
Genre 
Documentary
Running Time 
114 minutes

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Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn

About the Film 
An unflinching look at one of the country’s most vilified figures, this riveting profile of the closeted, self-loathing power broker reveals the man behind the Machiavellian mask. From McCarthyism’s chief architect to Trump mentor, Cohn’s amoral career stained U.S. politics. Filmmaker Ivy Meeropol, granddaughter of the Rosenbergs, executed as spies, adds a personal prism to this interrogatory account.
Genre 
Documentary
Running Time 
94 minutes

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Golda

About the Film 
Israel’s only female prime minister defends her clouded legacy in this engrossing portrait backboned by a surprisingly candid, unaired TV interview buttressed by testimonials from devotees and detractors alike, which charts Golda’s trailblazing rise to power and her tragic demise.
Genre 
Documentary
Running Time 
88 minutes

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Hollywood's II. World War

About the Film 
Some of Hollywood’s famed filmmakers, including Jewish emigres William Wyler and Billy Wilder, risk everything in a campaign to rally America behind the war effort. Seeking to foil Hitler’s pervasive propaganda, the government sent documentary crews to war zones to collect tales of heroism, the celluloid chronicling the democratic ideals for which the Allies fought.
Genre 
Documentary
Running Time 
90 minutes

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Holy Silence

About the Film 
The Catholic Church’s response to the Holocaust is examined via historic film, rare documents and current interviews, revealing a failure of moral authority. Pope Pius XI overtly decried the anti-Semitism of 1938 Germany, but his successor took a starkly different stance. What more might the Church have done to halt the Final Solution and help Europe’s Jews? As the Vatican prepares to open its secret WWII archives in March 2020, this timely exposé examines all sides of a hotly debated topic.
Genre 
Documentary
Running Time 
72 minutes

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Ma'abarot: The Israeli Transit Camps

About the Film 
Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa reveal the intrinsic bigotry and harsh conditions they found upon landfall in 1950s Israel. Arriving during a time of poverty and austerity, Jews seeking shelter in the Promised Land instead were forced into ma’abarot, remote shantytowns of tents and sheds. Already dispirited, they waited days for food, showers and toilets. An ignored chapter of Israeli history, troubling testimony is illustrated with archival film and photos.
Genre 
Documentary
Running Time 
84 minutes

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Oliver Sacks: His Own Life

About the Film 
British-born neurologist and literary giant Oliver Sacks is posthumously feted in this profoundly engaging, deeply personal memoir. Known by the film Awakenings, early fame came from his brilliant writings on cognitive disorders and natural world splendors. Sacks battled drugs, homophobia, and a skeptical medical establishment, and after a terminal diagnosis, vividly faces the meaning of his existence.
Genre 
Documentary
Running Time 
114 minutes

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The Passengers

About the Film 
On their community’s behalf, two young Ethiopian men rally support for immigration to Israel. Roughly 9,000 Ethiopian Jews observe religious customs, yet Israel still denies their birthright return. Desperate to be heard, Demoz and Gezi go to America to find advocates for their cause, confronting homesickness, culture shock, and the frustrations of a grassroots effort. Their journey reveals the thorny politics of Ethiopian Jewry and the Zionist ideal.
Genre 
Documentary
Running Time 
72 minutes

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Picture of His Life

About the Film 
A daring Israeli underwater photographer spends 40 years taking stunning close-ups of aquatic wildlife, but one fearsome challenge eludes him: swimming beside a polar bear while filming the encounter. This breathtaking portrait reveals a fervent artist and activist risking life and limb in pursuit of singular beauty.
Genre 
Documentary
Running Time 
72 minutes

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