Jews have lived in Ethiopia for centuries, but over the past decades, the majority have emigrated to Israel, most in the well-known airlifts of Operations Moses (1984) and Solomon (1991). Now some 140,000 are citizens. Those left behind in Addis Ababa and Gondar languish in dire conditions, vividly illustrated in the beautifully shot film.
Repetition mixed with monotony is not usually high up on Hollywood’s list of project themes, which is why Hulu’s Palm Springs was such a delightful surprise. The film stars Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother) as two apathetic California wedding guests who get stuck in a Groundhog Day-like time loop, forcing them to relive the couple’s special day over and over again. For a film that was shot in pre-coronavirus times, Palm Springs is surprisingly relevant.
This film is an insightful view into the life of a little-known luminary, replete with wonderful archival footage (not only of pre-state Jerusalem but also of his and his wife’s mime performances), whose legacy would otherwise be unknown to almost all of us.
The filmmaker went to major lengths to use what he called distancing devices—shots at odd angles and no melody—to keep the audience from identifying with the murderer.
Some more great cinematic tales of Jews making sense of their relationship to the world—and the world, in turn, making sense of its relationship to Jews.
Jewishness is both unrelated to the Disney archive and, thanks to Walt Disney’s long-rumored yet long-denied anti-Semitism, inseparable from it.
Jojo Rabbit, which is shaping up to be easily the most divisive film of the awards season, shows us the Third Reich through the eyes of a child.
For a long time I’ve been trying to figure out why I love Noah Baumbach’s movies so much. And as a Jewish creative who often prefers the company of books and films to people, I see a little bit too much of myself in them, which is more worrisome than it is meaningful.
