"Nora's Will" in the Miami Herald!

The award-winning film Nora's Will is premiering in Miami theaters this Friday (April 2nd), and the positive reviews on the film just keep on coming! Nora's Will is sure to be a big hit among Miami audiences!

Orlando Aloma of The Miami Herald gave Nora's Will 3 stars (out of 4), saying:

"(Nora's Will)is not a ha-ha comedy but an insider's smiley discourse on the movable boundaries of love, faith, faithfulness and -- last and fortunately least -- personal interests. Choosing humanism over the pitfalls of melodrama and the temptations of the tremendous (a sex toy makes its most innocuous appearance ever), first-time feature director Mariana Chenillo shuffles her chips adroitly -- solid, natural acting; no flashy camera movements; no do-or-die conflicts -- to steer her ultimately pleasing plot to a conclusion as tidy as Nora's apartment and as orderly as her posthumous instructions for Passover dinner. "

Read the rest of the review at The Miami Herald.

Nora's Will is playing at
Tower Theater (at Miami Dade College)
1508 S.W. 8th Street
Miami, Florida 33135
(305) 643-8706
Website

For more information about Nora's Will, visit Menemsha Films!

"A Matter of Size" is Coming Out in Boston!

A Matter of Size is now playing in Boston at the West Newton Cinema, and the accolades just keep on coming for this "ludicrously funny" film! Recently, the film was reviewed by Roger Brigham for EDGE Boston, Boston's leading gay website.

Here's what EDGE had to say about A Matter of Size:

"There is a basic principle the rules in the world of sumo wrestling: stand your ground or be shoved aside. It is a theme that resonates throughout "A Matter of Size" and one that should resonate with the queer community.

Herzl (Itzek Cohen) is a fat lonely man who has just quit one job as a chef in dissatisfaction and is gaining weight while attending group therapy session with other don’t-wannabe whales and living with his mother. He finds happiness when he embraces his true girth and dedicates himself and his friends to the discipline of sumo, and finds greater happiness when he finds the courage to be honest instead of only saying things to please people. There is one character who comes out of the closet, but it is the overall story of the power of self-acceptance and integrity that makes this film a champion.

Fat people, guys in loin cloths, Jewish guys dreaming of going to Japan -- there are tons of possibilities for cheap shots and buffoon humor. Writers Sharon Maymon and Danny Cohen-Solal take none of them while delivering a story of good humor and subtle poignancy. Cohen, Levana Finkelstein as his girlfriend Mona and Dvir Benedek as his hot-headed friend and counterpoint are standouts in a solid cast."

Read the review at EDGE Boston

A Matter of Size is playing in Boston theaters now!

For more information, visit Menemsha Films

Audiences Love "A Matter of Size"!

This just in: A Matter of Size has won the Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Seattle Jewish Film Festival!



This is the fourth time audiences have put their weight behind A Matter of Size! The film has been honored with Audience Awards at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the Washington Jewish Film Festival, and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

A Matter of Size is now playing in Boston. for more information and to find out where you can see it, visit Menemsha Films!

Early Reviews Are In: "A Matter of Size" is "One Big Charmer"

The first reviews for A Matter of Size are coming in from Boston!

First, Brett Michel of The Boston Phoenix gives his take in this week's issue:

"Director duo Sharon Maymon and Erez Tadmor have fashioned a look at a group of blue-collar Israeli men (and one woman) and how they came to accept who they are. Sounds like your usual coming-out tale, no?

Except that they're not gay. (Well, one is.) They're fat. And getting fatter. Oh, and they're sumo wrestlers. "

"Add a subplot of plus-sized romance and you're looking at a big charmer."

Read the review at The Boston Phoenix

Daniel Kimmel of The Jewish Advocate had great things to say about the film as well:

"This is a comedy that could take place in any western society where relative affluence leads to people being overweight. The characters are on a journey where they will first have to accept themselves before they can get others to accept them for who they are.

And if they means running through the streets wearing nothing but a red “diaper,” (the traditional garb of the sumo wrestler), it may mean people will stare, but as “A Matter of Size” makes hilariously clear, that's their problem."

Read the review at The Jewish Advocate

Finally, Laura Clifford of Reeling: The Movie Review Show had this to say:

"The cast is uniformly appealing. (Itzik) Cohen uses his big eyes for mope puppy appeal and carries himself with the grace many large men inexplicably seem to have. (Dvir) Benedek is the tough, macho plumber and the only real threat to Herzl in the ring. (Alon) Dahan is delightful - he makes Gidi's joy radiate when he discovers the gay bear subculture."

"(Irit) Kaplan is a lovely romantic interest and a poster girl for sexy zaftig ladies. (Togo) Igawa, who had to learn how to speak Hebrew for this role, is dignified, but with a slight devilish streak, one which is subtly brought out by (Levona) Finkelstein as Herzl's mom."

"...it's gentle humor and band of underdogs will surely bring a smile. It's a unique cross-cultural comedy."

Read the review at Reeling Reviews

A Matter of Size premieres this Friday, March 19th in Boston, and will soon be playing in a theater near you!

West Newton Cinema
1296 Washington Street
West Newton, MA
(617) 964-6060
Website

Stay tuned for more news and reviews from the Boston premiere of A Matter of Size!
For more information, visit Menemsha Films

Smash Hit Comedy "A Matter of Size" In Theaters Friday!

A Matter of Size, the hit Israeli film that has been playing to packed houses and rapturous laughter at film festivals around the world, is making its North American Theatrical Premiere in Boston! The film opens Friday, March 19th, and is playing for a limited time. Variety calls the film “ludicrously funny”, and MTV says its “hilarious”. Come see the film that everyone is talking about!

The film tells the story of four overweight friends from the Israeli city of Ramle who are fed up of dieting and the weight loss club they belong to. Herzl (Itzik Cohen) has been struggling with his weight ever since he was young, and his overbearing mother made it no easier on him. When he loses his job as a cook and starts washing dishes in a Japanese restaurant, Herzl discovers the world of Sumo, where large people such as himself are honored and appreciated.

Through the restaurant owner Kitano (Togo Igawa), a former Japanese Sumo coach (supposedly hiding from the Yakuza in Israel), Herzl and his friends fall in love with a sport involving "two fatsos in diapers and girly hairdos". However, Herzl’s dedication to this demanding men-only sport threatens his budding relationship with Zehava, a plus-size social worker. A Matter of Size is a comedy about a 'coming out' of a different kind - overweight people learning to accept themselves.

This film, directed by Sharon Maymon and Erez Tadmor, is the latest in a string of critically acclaimed films to come from Israel in recent years, including Ajami, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Academy Awards, as well as Waltz with Bashir (2009 Academy Award Nominee), Beaufort (2008 Academy Award Nominee), Lebanon and The Band’s Visit. A Matter of Size was the winner of three Israeli Academy Awards, and won Audience Awards at the Washington Jewish Film Festival, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

A Matter of Size conveys a powerful message of acceptance and inner beauty, but does so in a hilarious, light-hearted manner. The movie is peppered with dry Israeli humor, musical montages, and loveable characters that audiences will be rooting for from beginning to end! A Matter of Size has something for everyone- competitive sports, laugh out loud dialogue, romance, a positive message and optimistic outlook. Nobody will want to sit out on this massively appealing comedy! In Hebrew with English subtitles, A Matter of Size runs 90 minutes and is unrated.

The film is playing at the West Newton Cinemas:
1296 Washington Street
West Newton, MA
(617) 964-6060
www.westnewtoncinema.com

If you don't live in Boston and want to see A Matter of Size, stay tuned to this blog and our website to find out when the film will be playing near you!

For more information and to watch the film’s trailer, visit http://www.menemshafilms.com/.

Testaments to the Enduring Power of Memory

David Crumm, Editor of Read the Spirit, just posted a review for the recent DVD release of Belzec. Here's a taste of what Mr. Crumm had to say:

In 1985, filmmaker Guillaume Moscovitz was moved by Claude Lanzmann's masterwork on the Holocaust, "Shoah"—a 10-hour documentary that focused mainly on real people who lived near the Nazi concentration camps. Belzec is included briefly in Lanzmann's epic film, but Moscovitz decided around 2002 that Belzec's mysteries deserved a separate, feature-length documentary.

I agree after having watched "Belzec"—including some portions of the film that I viewed twice and even three times to catch small details.

"Belzec" opens with Heinrich Himmler's chilling claim that the Holocaust would represent "a glorious page of our history that has never been written—and shall never be written." The attempt to erase all traces of the crimes at Belzec were in keeping with Himmler's goal. The grand scale of the genocide would be followed by erasure and, finally, a complete revision of world history.

First and foremost, Lanzmann's and Moscovitz's films are testaments to the enduring power of memory. Yes, they raise horrific questions about how much neighbors of this camp knew during the Final Solution! In fact, we learn through Moscovitz's interviews, these neighbors knew precisely what was happening!

Most importantly, though, the film invites us, as viewers, to actively help in the reconstruction of memory.

Read the full review at Read the Spirit

You can buy Belzec on DVD here: Menemsha Store

Belzec - On DVD Tuesday!

Hello everyone! My name is Ben, and it is my pleasure to announce the newest release from Menemsha Films, available this Tuesday on DVD: Belzec!

Belzec is a heart-wrenching documentary which sheds light on a heretofore forgotten aspect of the Holocaust: the death camp in Belzec, Poland. By interviewing locals who witnessed the horrors firsthand and the only known living survivor of the camp, a woman who was hidden under a pile of wood for years as a young girl, the film juxtaposes these memories with the site of the camp today: an empty wooded field, no trace left by the Nazis except the ground bone and ashes mixed with the dirt.

The film's synopsis:

The horrifically efficient Nazi death camp, Belzec, was in operation for less than one year, but witnessed the murder of at least 600,000 Jews. Once the Soviet counterattacks began, the S.S. eliminated all traces of the camp, and the name Belzec faded from the collective conscience. Conceived of by Executive Producer Claude Lanzman as the last chapter to his epic Shoah, helmer Guillaume Moscovitz has created a chilling account that's as much about remembrance as it is about the past.

The film was also reviewed in Variety, by Jay Weissberg.

"This contrast between the tree-covered plain and the death buried just below the surface is what intrigues Moscovitz. Much of the handsomely lensed docu is composed of interviews with locals, people who remember seeing the trains pulling up (the camp was built just 1,500 feet from the town's railroad station), hearing the screams, and, of course, smelling the foul air of burning corpses.

It's refreshing to finally hear villagers who don't claim to have been ignorant of what went on inside the barbed wire fences, although a few don't seem especially traumatized by what was happening in their backyard.

The only Jewish survivors of Belzec were those men forced to usher the prisoners into the gas chambers and later transport the bodies to the pits. Moscovitz makes superb use of their chilling written testimonies.

But even more devastating is listening to the sole living Jewish witness, Braha Rauffman. As a 7-year-old, she was hidden by a villager for 20 months, in a makeshift hole covered with firewood that didn't even allow her space to fully stretch her legs. Her testimony, almost unbearable to hear, contrasts sharply with the more generic recollections of the townspeople."

You can buy the DVD here: Menemsha Store

For more information on Belzec and many other quality films from Menemsha, visit our website! Menemsha Films

Partying with Kawasaki's Rose

Menemsha Films president Neil Friedman strikes a pose with the leading ladies of Kawasaki's Rose; Petra Hrebeckova, Anna Simoniva, and Lenka Vlasakova, during the premiere after party at Vienna Bar in Berlin.

Brian Brooks of indieWire featured this photograph in their post-Berlinale coverage, and here's what they had to say about it:

In his first write up of the Berlinale in his Critics Notebook Shane Danielsen called Czech film “Kawasaki’s Rose” (Kawasakiho Ruze) “the one undeniable ‘find’ of the festival so far.” Following the premiere of the film, directed by Jan Hrebejk and which screened in the festival’s Panorama, all gathered for dinner and some good times (and apparently even a little nudity later that evening) in the German capital. Giving a good pose (and a bit of leg), actors Petra Hrebeckova, Anna Simoniva, Lenka Vlasakova along with Neil Friedman of Menemsha Films. [Photo by Mark Rabinowitz]

Click here for the original article: indieWire

The Undeniable 'Find' of the Festival

Just in from the Berlin International Film Festival, Shane Danielsen of indieWire has posted a glowing review of Kawasaki's Rose, the latest film from Czech master Jan Hrebejk, which premiered this past Friday as the opening night selection of the prestigious Panorana Special section. Here's what he had to say about the film:

"Theirs were the usual discontents: The parties were fewer. The market was slow. There were no good movies. Had they not seen ‘Kawasaki’s Rose’? The latest from prolific Czech director Jan Hrebejk and screenwriter Petr Jarchovsky, it was easily the best feature of the first few days, the one undeniable ‘find’ of the festival so far.

I couldn’t say I was surprised. To my mind, Hrebejk has long been the most criminally neglected of major contemporary international filmmakers: a consummate director of actors, with a subtle but undeniable visual sense and an instinctive grasp of structure. Yet despite having produced roughly one film a year for the past decade, and having been nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar (for 2000’s ‘Divided We Fall’), this is the first of his works to premiere at one of the Big Three European festivals. And even then – in another inexplicable programming decision – it wasn’t in Competition, as it should have been, but appeared instead as a “Panorama Special”.

Writing in Variety last September, I pointed out that there’s a complete body of work there – nine features to date – awaiting discovery by some enterprising programmer or festival. They’re small movies, mostly modern-day domestic dramas, but are distinguished by their humanity, unusual intelligence, and the unadorned elegance of their craftsmanship. “You have to stay small to go deep,” one character says here, and a neater explication of Hrebejk’s philosophy I have yet to find.

This one – about an elderly man, a respected figure from the Communist resistance, whose misdeeds during the Dubcek era are slowly revealed – slipped easily back and forth between various perspectives (and such is Jarchovsky’s skill, every character here was nuanced, contradictory, fully realized), and parceled out its revelations as deliberately and rigorously as a conspiracy thriller. Less hectic than ‘Horem Padem’, more emotionally resonant than ‘Beauty In Trouble’ (as fine as each of those films was), it ranked among the writer and director’s very finest work to date. "

Check out the rest of the article here:

indieWIRE

Variety ♥'s Kawasaki's Rose

Derek Elley of Variety recently posted a great review of Kawasaki's Rose, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival this past Friday. The good word of mouth just keeps flowing for this film! Here's a preview of what he had to say:

"While many other Central European countries have dealt with their collaborationist past in movies, Hrebejk and Jarchovsky claim theirs is the first to do so in the Czech Republic. Typically, but without devaluing the content, it's dealt with in a very Czech way -- sans real bitterness, marbled with a lightness of touch, and capped by a final scene that's wound-healing in its tartly genial humor."

"Ensemble performances are topnotch, from Huba and Kolarova as the husband and wife who still retain their dignity even as their past becomes media property, through Vlasakova as their conflicted daughter, to smaller parts like Anna Simonova as Bara, Lucie's restless teen daughter. One cross-generational scene between Huba and Simonova is a beauty, showing how Jarchovsky's well-worked script keeps all family members involved in the ensemble at all times."

You can read the rest of the article here:
Variety

A Movie for all Ages, and Sizes for that Matter

One of Menemsha's latest releases, A Matter of Size, has been playing to packed crowds, standing ovations and rave reviews all over the country. An Israeli film about four oversized Jewish men who turn to sumo wrestling to solve all their problems, is definitely a crowd-pleaser that should surprise many come awards season.

But don't take it from me, heres an unbiased review from Jay Solomon at the More of Me to Love blog.

What makes it an Indie?

Prior to starting this blog I was asked by somebody "What is it that makes a film an 'Indie'?" (and yes they really did make quotation marks with their fingers as they said the word Indie, as if it was some sort of mythical creature that could never actually exist.) I told him there were two answers: a long one and a shorter one.

The shorter answer is simple. An Independent film is any film that receives less than 50% of its funding from any of the Major Movie Studios. Too easy? Of course it is.

The long answer is one that begins in the early days of American Filmmaking concerning the likes of Thomas Edison and continues right up to the present, growing ever more confusing with the successful emergence of new independent film studios and festivals as well as digital filmmaking. If you would like to learn more about this topic, I encourage you to check out this page.

Menemsha Films

"Film as dream, film as music. No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul." Ingmar Bergman’s powerful statement about film connects with Menemsha’s commitment to this art genre. Menemsha Films is a film distribution company founded in 1998 by Neil Friedman. The typical genre of its films consists of foreign narrative films as well as art house documentaries; or as they prefer “intelligent films for the intelligent film fan.” By setting intelligent film fans as it’s target, Menemsha quickly hit it’s mark; setting a record five films nominated for an Academy Award in five consecutive years in either the Best Foreign Film or Best Documentary categories (Divided We Fall, Son of the Bride, Zelary, Story of the Weeping Camel, and Prisoner of Paradise). Adding to the prestige of it’s Oscar-nominations, is the praise Menemsha’s films have received overseas; receiving various awards from prestigious festivals such as Toronto, Berlin, Karlovy Vary, Venice and Cannes among others.

However, looking beyond the awards one will find the true backbone of this company lies in the subject matter covered by each film. While the bulk of its library consists of Jewish-themed family films (Live and Become, Rashevski’s Tango, Belzec, Saviors in the Night, A Matter of Size etc.), Menemsha is also dedicated to finding top films from countries all around the world, each with a highly universal message packaged in an intriguing, original form. Films such as “A Touch of Spice” from Greece (the most successful film in Greek history), “Cozy Dens” from the Czech Republic (directed by one of the Czech’s most beloved and successful filmmakers, Jan Hrebejk), “Gloomy Sunday” from Germany (recently voted as one of the top 10 films of the decade by Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle), or “Machuca” from Chile (Chile’s 2004 Academy Award Entry For Best Foreign Language Film) will not only reveal something about their own country of origin, but will also provide a new insight into some of the events that may occur in your life.

But if narratives aren’t your thing then its wide variety of documentaries should certainly be something to catch your interest. Ranging in topics from Major League Baseball (The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg) to the plundering of centuries of invaluable art by the Nazis in World War II (The Rape of Europa) to everything in between: “Midnight Movies”, an official selection at Cannes 2005 about the history of classic horror films, “The Ritchie Boys”, which was shortlisted for The Academy Awards in 2005, documents a group of young men who fled Nazi Germany to return as soldiers in U.S. uniforms, and “Inside Hana’s Suitcase”, a youth-driven documentary about a grammar-school class doing some detective work on an old suitcase to educate themselves on The Holocaust.

With a library consisting of 30+ films, and a dedication to growing faster than ever, no matter what your taste might be there is assuredly something here for you. So if the films released in theatres these days just aren’t doing it for you, then it’s time to broaden your horizons and take a step into Menemsha Films’ library.

My First Time

You know how it goes, "If everybody else is doing it, it must be cool."

Now i've never considered myself a conformist, so I'm going to justify my actions as well as let you know what this blog is all about.

I've had a passion for film for as long as I can remember, but up until now it has only manifested itself by way of petty arguments such as justifying my hatred of Christian Bale, or explaining why Jon Lovitz is the most underrated actor/comedian of our time. However, just recently I took a more proactive approach, I got a job with Menemsha Films (which I will continue to describe with great detail throughout this blog), and began to immerse myself in the world of Independent and Foreign Film.

Like any other submersion I started off slowly. I dipped my toes in to test the waters by watching the classics - Seven Samurai, The 400 Blows, 8 1/2 etc... Then, after finding out which directors I liked more than others (Akira Kurosawa, Jan Hrebejk, and Ingmar Bergman), I dove into their filmographies. Discovering the waters to be quite refreshing I now find myself coming back as often as possible, by keeping my eye open for new releases as well as searching for older, more obscure films (Harakiri, Zabriskie Point to name a few) and setting up an account with The Auteurs, a site where you can stream classic films for a small fee.

So if you are interested in the world of Independent Film, yet find it overwhelming and intimidating, consider this blog a Independent Film 101 without any of the homework or papers. Where I will be doing less leading but more wandering in wide-eyed innocence along with you.