Taqasim / Cafe Noah

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24.95
Taqasim, shot in the streets of Cairo, is a voyage to the hidden treasures of Arabic music and to the participation of Jewish musicians. With stylishly shot music and unforgettable back-ally jams played by Felix Mizrachi, Zehava Ben, Abraham Salman and others, this film brings classical Arabic music raw and captivating. Award winning film Cafe Noah is about the Jewish musicians from Baghdad and Cairo have immigrated to Israel. They were masters in Arabic music, but their music was not valued in the new homeland. Cafe Noah was the one place were their music continued.

Mr. Cortisone, Happy Days
From the in-the-face, hand-holding, foot-to-foot opening shots of this phenomenal film, you recognize that Shlomi Shir is a talent to be reckoned with, shooting, directing and in front of the camera. The potent cinematography gets your attention immediately; the rainy nights, the portrait of a claustrophobic hospital room, the dreams of his wife in a swimming pool, the dog named Fellini, the dialogues with doctors and the mirrors are all visceral. This is an intimate tour de force. Some will call it a powerful personal documentary of a man's fight against cancer; it is that. And if you are a sucker for love stories and thrillers, you will be glued to the screen the minute Shlomi asks his pregnant wife if she is afraid. But Mr. Cortisone, Happy Days transcends these definitions. We watch a spirited man confront a life-threatening illness, but there is also Shlomi's oh-so-Jewish sense of humor, his inventiveness (bowling with empty bottles and oranges), his cortisone-induced smarts and love of life. More importantly, Shlomi convinces us that the power of his art will be a cure and will bring a happy end to this story. "You know how to cope with fear. You put it in the frame and let it pass." The director charms one and all looking for salvation and finding it by creating, with Duki Dror, a cinematic masterpiece.--Erica Marcus
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24.95
Across the River

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24.95
Tesgau Mahari (Moshe Rachamim) carries a great burden. For years he has been explaining and warning, and yet, the pervasive HIV virus keeps killing in his community. Against the "silencing" policy of the Public Health Authority and the denial of the Ethiopian community, Moshe sets out to expose the disease and stop it from spreading. He goes back to Ethiopia, where he finds thousands of Ethiopians, waiting for years in compounds to fulfill their dream and immigrate to Israel. Cut off from their villages with nothing much to do, they are the highest risk group for HIV-AIDS. How could all this have happened? This is not what Moshe had dreamed of, when he crossed the river and left his village. A journey back to his isolated village reveals a story about a curious young man, who marked the way to the exodus of the Ethiopian Jews, and now feels he must save his community.