Arranged marriages, a common occurrence among ultra-Orthodox Jews and traditional Muslims, apparently rarely break up. As one of the chief characters in Skekhar Kapur’s appealing romantic comedy, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, points out, only six percent of these unions fail. “You grow to love the person you’re with,” he says. The person […]
The appointment of Rosalie Abella to Canada’s Supreme Court in 2004 shattered two records. In one fell swoop, she became the first Jewish woman and the first immigrant to land that coveted position. “People like me were not exactly being appointed to the Supreme Court in droves,” she says in a droll understatement at the […]
Nathan Hilu, a visual artist from New York City, refers to himself as a “memory man.” It is a fair description of an eccentric, complex person. Hilu spent decades drawing sketches of Nazi war criminals who faced justice at the Nuremberg trial in postwar western Germany. His drawings, in crayon and ink, are detailed and […]
Tonje Hessen Schei and Michael Rowley have produced a thoughtful and disturbing documentary examining the beliefs and objectives of American evangelical Christians. Praying for Armageddon will be screened at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto on May 2 in its North American premiere. There will be additional screenings on May 4 and May 7, […]
Ehud Olmert has the dubious distinction of having been the first Israeli prime minister to be jailed for a criminal offence. Convicted of bribery and obstruction of justice, he was released from prison in 2017 after serving 16 months of a six-year sentence. Now 77, Olmert was named prime minister after his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, […]
Baseball is not exactly a popular sport in Israel, and few Israelis have embraced it. But when the Israeli baseball team qualified for the summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, some Israelis tuned in and cheered on its players, most of whom were Americans with dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship. Their quest for a medal — […]
Irving Rapper’s feature film, Rhapsody in Blue, is a paean to the legendary American Jewish composer and songwriter George Gershwin. It was broadcast on the Turner Classic Movies channel recently. An energetic drama and a buoyant musical by turns, this sleek 1945 production was panned by some observers, including the critic of The New York […]
Warner Bros., one of the major Hollywood movie studios, was founded on April 4 a century ago by four Jewish brothers whose immigrant family hailed from Poland. The Warner siblings, Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack, worked together during the silent era and successfully transitioned into talkies, producing a succession of memorable films ranging from The […]
Marvin Samel’s feel-good movie, iMordecai, traces the steps of a Polish Holocaust survivor who finds new meaning in life after his son buys him a cell phone. Based on a true story, it will be available on VOD platforms starting on April 4. Partly animated, iMordecai is set in Miami Beach, a mecca of Jewish […]
Moshe Alpert’s spare and poetic documentary, Kinneret: Sea of Life, presents the Sea of Galilee, the world’s lowest freshwater lake, in a completely new and lyrical light. It is now available on the ChaiFlicks streaming platform. Facing Israel’s old border with Syria, and lying in the shadow of the Golan Heights, this oval-shaped body of water […]