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.