The Kindergarten Teacher (2014)

By Nate Feldman

The Kindergarten Teacher (2014) is an Israeli film about a Kindergarten teacher in Israel who discovers that one of her students has a natural gift for poetry.  She is captivated by his ability to come up with his own poems and takes it upon herself to protect him from what she feels is a society that is indifferent to his innate talent.  Unfortunately, she oversteps all legitimate boundaries and becomes predatorial in her interaction with the student.  

From the teacher's perspective, the boy has the same ability with poetry that Mozart had with music.  She is aware that his nanny, an aspiring actress, passes his works as her own during auditions for plays.  There is no mother for the child at home, and the father openly admits that he thinks that what his son does is irrelevant.  For that reason, she needs to protect this talent at all costs.

However, none of that excuses any of her behavior.  She is extremely hypocritical.  Like the nanny, she passes the boys poems as her own at a poetry workshop she is a part of.  And while it is true that some may not see the boy's potential for greatness, she gives the boy no attempt to be a young child, which is all he is.  She behaves extremely unprofessionally and inappropriately, meeting the boy outside of class.  She is also attempts to force him to come up with poems for her.  She seems to have more interest in this boy than the two children she already has.  Finally, at the climax of the story, when the boy is moved to another school by his father, she decides to abduct the child and drive away with him to a hotel in Eilat in southern Israel.  

The lesson of the story for me is the job of a teacher is to nurture students, not manipulate them.  Even if they have otherworldly talents that you feel conventional society cannot appreciate, it's not one's duty to control that environment.  As a teacher, support them, but don't control them.  

The Floaters

By Nate Feldman

I saw The Floaters at the Weitzmann Instiute in Philadelphia on Saturday night.  The screening was a part of the annual Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media festival.

The Floaters is about Nomi, a woman in a rock band who is kicked out before they are about to tour Europe.  Her best friend Maura runs a Jewish overnight camp, Camp Daveed.  Her role is to help the misfit kids, known as the Floaters, find their voices.  They come up with a play, which will be used in a competition with a rival Jewish camp.

As a person who never went to Jewish overnight camp, I unfortunately couldn't quite connect with that element of the story.  But, I can connect with the idea of being unique from the mainstream, and I could really connect with the Floaters as people.  Furthermore, having written amateur plays, I connected with the idea of putting on a theatrical production.  So, I really loved this film.

Munich

By Nate Feldman

At the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, West Germany, Black September, a Palestinian militant group, held 11 Israeli Olympians as hostages and eventually killed all of them.  In response, Israeli intelligence went on missions throughout the world to hunt down the planners of the attack.

Steven Spielberg's 2005 film Munich is about an Israeli intelligence team that travels throughout the world, from Rome, Paris, Beirut, Athens, and London to find and kill organizers of the Olympic massacre.  The team is led by Avner, a new father of a young daughter.  He builds relationships with a French informant who gives him the whereabouts of the militants he is looking for.  

The film shows the planning and execution of several assassinations of Palestinian militants throughout the world.  While the Israeli group is able to kill many men, there are questions of the righteousness and longevity of such a lifestyle.  It also shows the enormous toll on the intelligence agents that have chosen this lifestyle.

Whether 100% historically accurate or not, Munich gives an interesting perspective on the activities of Israeli intelligence and the human consequences of their actions.  

It is interesting to compare this film to Bethlehem, as both are about the lives of Israeli intelligence agents and the consequences of how they do their work.  The big difference is Bethlehem was Israeli made and is in Hebrew and Arabic, giving it slightly more of an authentic feel.  

That being said, Munich, like many Spielberg historical dramas, is moving and entertaining and definitely sends home a strong message.  And, although it is 20 years old this year, it still remains relative given the ongoing controversy of how Israel has responded to the attacks by Hamas against Israelis on October 7, 2023.  So, I still recommend for people to watch it.  

I Cried in Gaza

By Nate Feldman

Year: 2025

Country: Israel

This powerful documentary interviews female soldiers from the Israeli army, who for the first time since 1948 were called up for active combat in Israel's recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

The women were interviewed three times in an eight month period and recount things they experienced while at war and the trauma it has had on them.  

The film was shown at the Marlene Meyerson JCC as a part of its annual Other Israel Film Festival, which aims to promote Israeli and Palestinian narratives that are not focused on in mainstream cinema or press.

The film was followed by an interview and Q & A session with its director, Nurit Kedar.

Bethlehem

By Nate Feldman

Movie Title: Bethlehem

Year: 2013 

    This movie tells the story of Razi, an Israeli intelligence official, and his relationship with Sanfur, a young Palestinian from Bethlehem in the West Bank, who works as an informant.  Sanfur's brother, Ibrahim, is a leading militant with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a major Palestinian militant group, and is responsible for a deadly suicide bombing in Jerusalem.  

    Eventually, through intelligence work, they are able to locate Ibrahim at a market in Bethlehem and kill him.  Razi instructs Sanfur to go to Hebron, where Sanfur's aunt lives, as he wants the boy to not get caught up in the assassination attempt on his brother.

    Badawi, a local leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and his associates discover that Sanfur worked as a collaborator with Israeli intelligence.  They threaten to kill him publicly, but promise they'll spare him if he kills Razi.  

    This film very clearly shows both the horrors of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict while also trying to show the humanity on both sides.  It plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy at so many levels, a great reflection of the actual conflict itself.  In an ideal world, Razi and Sanfur wouldn't be forced to be a part of this deadly game.  They both clearly have feelings of affection and empathy for the other.  At the same time, the war forces them to make devastating choices.  

I highly recommend this film for people looking to get a very nuanced, empathetic portrayal of the issues between Israelis and Palestinians.  

Colombian Love

By Nate Feldman

Colombian Love is a 2004 Israeli film about three friends, Ori, Omer, and Zidane who go through many misadventures on their way to discovering what true love is. 

Omer is a former military officer with PTSD.  He marries Yael, but he injures himself during the wedding.  She wants a child, but he isn't ready.  He is always comparing things to his time during a war in Lebanon.

Ori gets married to Tali even though he messed around with a stripper at Omer's bachelor party.  However, things become bad when she offends his family, especially his excessively rigid-minded father.

Zidane hires a prostitute, but it turns out it is a girlfriend of his from 8th grade, Noga.  Meanwhile, he tries and reconnect with a girl, Francesca, that he once knew on a trip in Colombia.  She comes to Israel with her overly possessive mother, and when he won't commit to marriage, they return to Colombia.  He begins dating Moran, a doctor, but he realizes that Noga is his true love.

This film is extremely lighthearted and has a lot of slapstick humor.  It's by no means a cinematic classic, but it is enjoyable and entertaining, so I highly recommend it if you want something light to watch.  

The Secrets

 By Nate Feldman

The Secrets is a 2007 Israeli film by director Avi Nesher.  It tells the story of Naomi, a young woman from an ultra-orthodox Jewish family in Jerusalem who delays her eventual wedding to one of her father's students to move to the town of Safed in Northern Israel to study biblical law at a seminary for women.  

Naomi is uniquely well-versed in Jewish law and has far more knowledge than her peers.  Her roommates are three other women, one of whom is Michelle, a girl who lived the previous several years in France and has a great disdain for the other students and the program in general.  

Naomi and Michelle are assigned to help Anouk, a local French woman in town who allegedly was in prison for many years for a murder.  Initially the two girls are there just to assist her with basic needs, but she requests that they help her atone for sins in her life as she is dying.  

Naomi is reluctant to assist the woman, not only because she is frightened a bit by her, but also because she realizes eventually that she is not even Jewish.  However, Michelle encourages her to help and Naomi agrees.  

Slowly but surely, Naomi and Michelle take it upon themselves to help the woman gain repentance for her past sins.  Meanwhile, the two girls begin to fall in love with another and become romantically involved.  This happens while Michelle also has feelings for Yanki, a local Clarinetist who performs Klezmer music.  

The Secrets is an engrossing, multi-layered film that deals with many themes, including charting ones own path, and doing what one feels is right, regardless of the consequences.