How do sons come to terms with their fathers’ crimes? My Nazi Legacy, which will be broadcast on the PBS network on Monday, May 2 at 10 p.m. (check local listings), examines this difficult and morally-charged issue through the eyes of two men whose fathers were certified Nazi war criminals. Hans Frank was the governor […]
Erez Laufer’s biopic, Rabin In His Own Words, humanizes the late Israeli prime minister. Rabin, shy and reserved, invariably projected coolness and aloofness in public appearances. But in this film, scheduled to be screened at the Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto on May 2, May 3 and May 6, Rabin comes off as a […]
One of my favorite sections of The New York Times is the obituary page. I enjoy reading obits for two reasons. They’re about interesting people who’ve made an impact on our world, and they’re thoroughly researched and well written. A perfect combination in quality journalism. Vanessa Gould’s thoughtful film, Obit, which will be screened at the […]
Universities are supposed to be havens of civilized discourse where rationality, civility and tolerance prevail, but of late, this hallowed tradition has taken a battering in Britain and the United States. Consider these unsettling developments: Prior to her recent election as president of Britain’s National Union of Students, Malia Bouattia made comments that can only […]
Among the movies to be presented at this year’s Toronto Jewish Film Festival, running from May 5-15, are two films focusing on Israel and an Italian documentary about the former ghetto in Venice. Danae Elon, born in Jerusalem in 1970, left Israel in 1990 and spent the next two decades in New York City, […]
The Jewish Film Festival, which runs from May 5-15 in Toronto, is presenting biopics about the scientist Albert Einstein, the 19th century photographer Solomon Nunes Carvalho and the French politician Leon Blum. Albert Einstein and his wife, Elsa, were invited to Palestine by the Zionist movement in 1923. Noa Ben Hagai’s fascinating film, Einstein […]
He witnessed degradation, starvation and death in the Warsaw ghetto. He clandestinely visited a Nazi transit camp. He warned Western democracies that Jews in Poland were being systematically murdered by the Nazis. He was Jan Karski, the courageous courier from the Polish government-in-exile. The newest documentary about this heroic Polish figure, Karski & The Lords […]
The Toronto Jewish Film Festival runs from May 5-15 this year. On April 18, its lineup was announced at a press conference. The 24th edition is presenting four world premieres and 31 Canadian premieres. Twelve of the films will be seen in Toronto for the first time. Three previews: Edward G. Robinson virtually invented the celluloid […]
An obscure village in a remote corner of southeast Poland, the kind you can drive through in seconds, was in the spotlight recently. On March 17, an array of personalities descended on Markowa, in Poland’s Podkarpacie district, for the official opening of The Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World War II. The ceremony, […]
Tellingly enough, neither the Israeli government nor Austria’s embassy in Tel Aviv were involved in planning Heinz-Christian Strache’s visit to Israel, which took place a few days ago and was organized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party. One can understand why Strache, the leader of the far-right, xenophobic Austrian Freedom Party, is officially shunned […]