'Spotlight' on director Jan Hrebejk in Cleveland!

The Cleveland International Film Festival recently showcased the films of visionary Czech director Jan Hrebejk in this year's Director Spotlight series! The retrospective featured five of Hrebejk's films: Cosy Dens, Beauty in Trouble and Shameless (all released by Menemsha Films), as well as Up and Down and the Academy Award nominated Divided We Fall. After each film there was a discussion with Jan Hrebejk and his frequent writer and collaborator, the two-time Academy Award nominee Petr Jarchovsky.

Here's what the CIFF had to say about Hrebejk:

Clevelanders have long been fans of prolific Czech director Jan Hrebejk. Since his "Cosy Dens" debuted in Cleveland at the 23rd CIFF, Hrebejk has impressed audiences with his ability to unearth profound truths about the fragility of love, family, and friendship, whether during times of war, natural disaster, or even the most private of dilemmas. While his artistic vision brings at once beauty and irony to his subjects, his ear for music enriches his films to a level of greatness.

The retrospective was featured in the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

"When you have a chance to do a retrospective on an Oscar-nominated director, you do it," says festival artistic director Bill Guentzler. "Our audiences have always responded to his work."

And not just because the area's ethnic makeup has made Central and Eastern European films popular draws. Hrebejk is a leader in the newest wave of Czech cinema, mixing humor with irony, humanity amid upheaval.

To learn more about the wonderful films by Jan Hrebejk available from Menemsha Films, visit our website!

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!

"Anita" and "Saviors" Win Big in Pittsburgh!

Two films from Menemsha were winners at the recent Pittsburgh Jewish Israeli Film Festival! Anita and Saviors in the Night were both awarded the Audience Award for Best Narrative Film!!



Anita is a heart-warming film from Argentina, starring Norma Aleandro (the "Meryl Streep" of Argentina). Previously, Anita won the Best Film Award and the Audience Award at the Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival. The film is from award-winning writer/producer/director Marcos Carnevale (Elsa & Fred).

Anita Feldman (Alejandra Manzo), a young woman with Down syndrome, lives a happy, routine life being meticulously cared for by her mother (Norma Aleandro). But one tragic morning changes everything when Anita is left alone, confusedand helpless when the nearby Argentine Israelite Mutual Association is bombed. As she wanders through the city, she learns not only to care for herself, but touches the lives of those around her, from an alcoholic to a family of Asian immigrants.

Actor Edward James Olmos, founder of the LAILFF, said

“Anita is one of those little movies in our continent that move from start to end, which have great universal value, and it was the one that most struck me this year.”

For more information on Anita, visit its website.



Saviors in the Night is a heart-wrenching drama about the bond of community and family, set against the backdrop of the Holocaust. Recently the film was the Opening Night Film of the New York Jewish Film Festival at Lincoln Center. Saviors in the Night was directed by Ludi Boeken (Deadlines), and stars the beautiful Veronica Ferres and Armin Rohde (Run Lola Run).

Menne Spiegel was an old friend, a decorated fellow veteran of WWI, and a Jew. Despite being patriotic Germans and Nazi sympathizers, the farmers of Westphalia took in the Spiegel family and hid them, rescuing them from deportation and certain death. That this turns them into heroes would never occur to them. They risk their own lives and that of their families, guided only by their instinct and century-old code of ethics. . The film is based on the memoirs of Marga Spiegel.

For more information on Saviors in the Night, visit its website.

For more information about the Pittsburgh Jewish Israeli Film Festival, click here.

To learn more about these films and many others from Menemsha, check out our website!

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