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The UK Jewish Film Festival is an opportunity to learn from and appreciate the different perspectives of Jewish – and non-Jewish – experience through a diverse line-up of films

Films have a role in teaching us about the world. The best movies are the ones which deliver a message, tell a story and have a purpose; they truly can change and shape our perspectives. As such, film festivals and screenings are great events not to be missed as they present an opportunity to learn and unlearn through a series of images masterfully put together to speak on specific issues. We cannot mention movies without mentioning film festivals. Neither can we talk about film festivals without pointing out the UK Jewish Film Festival.

For those who have never heard about the Jewish Film Festival, a great way to start is to visit their excellent and richly documented website where it is possible to find answers to almost all questions one might have.

The major motive of its founder and executive director, Judith Ironside, ‘an ideas person’, has been the ambition of promoting tolerance and understanding. The UK Jewish Film Festival, which currently has screenings in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Leeds and London, is rooted in the tradition which gave birth to the 1997 Brighton Film Festival. Today Jewish Film Festivals are also held in Las Vegas, Zagreb, Amsterdam and San Francisco, and Jewish films are celebrated at a universal level.

The festival is now celebrating its 16th anniversary and will showcase more than 70 movies from 1 to 18 November 2012. The films are divided into eight categories: Galas (buzzes), Become (identities), Conflict (stories of-), Embrace (on the human condition), Icons (heroes), Reminisce (time travel), Roots (the word says it all), and Schtik (Jewish humour).

If I had to choose must-see movies, I would identify six films which, in my opinion, have the potential to bring the two sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict together:

1. Zaytoun is a movie where a Palestinian refugee and an Israeli fighter pilot embark on the same journey. Among the many questions we cannot help but ask throughout the movie is: does friendship know borders? How about the definition (and the search) of a home?
2. A Bottle in the Gaza Sea is the story of a correspondence between an Israeli girl and a Palestinian boy. Beginning with a bottle thrown in the sea and carried on through emails, it is a correspondence which changes each one’s view of the other side and feeds the curiosity about the other. It is the desire for peace and the search for a home which shines out in this film and makes me wonder how far reality is from what the movie captures.
3. Sharqiya tells the story of Kamel Najer, a young Bedouin man who discovers one day that his nomadic camp has to be demolished. His first reaction is to plan the bombing of a bus station to draw light on the problems he faces. He soon decides he has to act to prevent such an attack.  This film is a must-see for the way it deals with concepts such as anger, revenge, violence and land. This is not only a meticulous study but is also an exploration of key concepts of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
4. The Other Son narrates the story of a Jewish baby and a Muslim baby switched at birth during the Gulf War. When Yacin and Joseph are 17, the ‘mistake’ is revealed. When the truth is discovered, two universes confront each other. Will tolerance and understanding win over biases and assumptions?
5. David tells the story of the son of a religious Muslim Imam mistaken for a Jewish boy. He becomes drawn to act two parts: David with his Jewish friends and Daud with his family. The movie shows subtly why Daud continues playing out a double role in his daily life. It also denounces discrimination and the heavy weight religion has been on Daud’s identity and how acting changes his life, as well as the relationship with his friends.
6. The Price of Kings: Shimon Perez: A State is not its leader no matter how emblematic he/she might be, and vice versa. However, getting closer to understanding who the ‘real’ Perez is can perhaps tell us something about the State of Israel, its politics, decisions, the Israel-Palestine conflict, plus the man himself and his vision. More importantly how the vision translated (or not) on the ground.

Finally, I choose to conclude by quoting Mark Twain: “Truth is stranger than fiction but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” There is a fine line between truth (non-fiction) and fiction in films. The UK Jewish Film Festival blurs that fine line and promises to at least raise thought-provoking questions, if not construct a new understanding and a better, more informed perspective on many issues, particularly on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the films I have listed.

Image from: http://ukjewishfilm.org/festival-2012