Event

MJFF presents Touchdown Israel: Tackle Football in the Holy Land

Touchdown Israel: Tackle Football in the Holy Land
Documentary
Directed by Paul Hirschberger
2014 USA, English
85 min

American tackle football was imported to Israel in the late 1980s by foreign-born Israelis who missed the sports passion of their youth. Players persevered with woefully inadequate facilities and an indifferent public until New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft sponsored the Israeli Football League and funded a stadium. In a country where religious and ethnic divisions run impossibly deep, Palestinian, Christian, Thai, secular and Orthodox Jewish weekend warriors leave their differences on the sidelines in the spirit of teamwork and the love of the game. This gritty, irreverent, yet soulful documentary captures the on-field action while profiling the players, teams, and rivalries on the way to Israel Bowl V. Melinda Molin

Atlanta, Boston, Memphis, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Washington Jewish Film Festivals

...one of the best sports documentaries Ive ever watched. ReelLife with Jane

...sports as a tool for opening minds through the players of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa team, which mixes Jews and Arabs. Atlanta Jewish Times

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