Event

Kibbutz/ The Oriental

Kibbutz- For five years Racheli (Lee) Schwartz followed the collapse and disintegration of her home, Kibbutz Hulata, located in the Upper Galilee. The kibbutzim have played a central role in Israel's culture, in its security, economy and politics. Kibbutznikim have taken on responsibilities far greater than their numbers in Israel's military, economy and political movements and ideologies. But the functions met by the kibbutz have changed as the state has changed. One of the most important roles of kibbutzim was the establishment of safe, defended borders for the people living in Israel and that is now met by the Israel Defense Forces, though the kibbutz members participate in the effort. Another was the provision of farm products, and gradually private enterprise has replaced that function. Those kibbutzim that have not been able to accommodate these changes in the supply of security, food and manufactured goods at competitive prices, have dissolved. Flashbacks to photos from the 1930s on make clear how much has changed in other areas of kibbutz life. The film follows a number of members, each deeply infiuenced by the imminent death of their home. The Oriental-In the aftermath of the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations at Camp David in 2000, Oriental follows multiple firsthand accounts and gives the audience a rare inside look into what went wrong at the high-level talks. Weaving the story of Russian-Israeli belly dancer Elina Pechersky preparing for an ambitious performance with five Arab-Israeli musicians, renowned director Avi Nesher examines the way in which different cultures communicate with one another. He weaves together the two narratives into one cinematic experiment, juxtaposing history and mythology, reality and the imagination of Palestinian and Israeli cultures. The result is a film with multiple layers of meaning and significance, offering a subversive, unique and clever look at the ongoing confiict plaguing the Middle East and the way different cultures communicate.