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Monthly Screenings

Reframing Reality #5

SHEKEL's International Film Festival Challenging the Concept of Disability

SHEKEL's Reframing Reality is an international Film Festival challenging the concept of disability with a selection of films from around the world, workshops, VR experiences, and more

I to Eye

A unique incubator for deaf filmmakers, in which the participants developed and produced films from their world. Incubator manager, production mentor: Roni Goder / Initiative: Gesher Multicultural Film Fund. Screening in the presence of the filmmakers.

 

Don Juan

Dir.: Jerzy Sladkowski
| 92 minutes

Twenty two-year-old Oleg doesn’t live up to his mother Marina’s idea of a real man. She thinks he’s an autistic loafer. When will Oleg be allowed to be himself at last? Salvation eventually comes from an unexpected source. 

Opening Event

Marking the 50th anniversary of the landmark film

The Big Dig

Dir.: Efrayim Kishon
| 89 minutes

 Kasimir Blaumilch escapes a psychiatric ward, steals a pneumatic drill, and starts ripping up the streets of Tel Aviv, wreaking havoc and bringing the city to a standstill. Meanwhile, city officials busy themselves with whitewashing the unfolding chaos, instead of taking action. 

At Eye Level

Dir.: Evi Goldbrunner, Joachim Dollhopf
| 98 minutes

When 11-year-old orphan Michael finds out his father is alive, he embarks on a journey to find him and discovers he is a midget. While his dad embraces the challenge of fatherhood, Michael finds himself torn.

Becoming Bulletproof

Dir.: Michael Barnett
| 80 minutes

Becoming Bulletproof documents the making of an original Western film called Bulletproof, featuring actors with and without disabilities. Inside the whirlwind filmmaking process, Becoming Bulletproof chronicles the genesis of a riveting film and a personally and socially transformative experience.

Creativity. Disability. Opportunity.

In a TED style event, six filmmakers with disabilities will present the challenges, dilemmas, and opportunities of their line of work. Prior to the event, the winners of Seeds of Change initiative will be announced. 

Premiere

Wonderstruck

Dir.: Todd Haynes
| 117 minutes

Ben and Rose are children from two different eras who secretly wish their lives were different. Both children embark on mysterious and mesmerizing quests to find what they are missing. Wonderstruck brings back the magic of cinema to fill your heart with warmth and bliss.

Prior to the screening, a short lecture (in Heb.) by Aya Roth on relationsgips and sexuality of people with special needs

Sanctuary

Dir.: Len Collin
| 87 minutes

 Larry and Sophie are in love. But Larry and Sophie have intellectual disabilities, and by attempting to be intimate, they’re breaking the law in Ireland. Both hilarious and heartbreaking, Sanctuary is a truly subversive piece of cinema.

It is warmly recommended visiting the VR compound of the Festival and to experience the VR version of the film

Unrest

Dir.: Jennifer Brea
| 97 minutes

Jennifer suffers a mysterious fever that leaves her bedridden and looking for answers. Disbelieved by doctors and determined to live, she turns her camera on herself and her community, a hidden world of millions confined by chronic fatigue syndrome.

Prior to the screening, a short dubbing show by Brian Friedlander

Life, Animated

Dir.: Roger Ross Williams
| 91 minutes

 Diagnosed as autistic, Owen shut himself up in his own world. The only access to him was via dialogs from animated Disney films. Now 23, he is about to move into his own apartment in a special needs community.

The Machine To Be Another

In this workshop by the interdisciplinary collective BeAnotherLab, participants will be able to engage with technology developed by the group to explore immersive experiences of the body. Participants will be able to see, touch and interact with the world from the perspective of another person.

Following the screening, a conversation with the series creators

On the Spectrum

Created by: Dana Idisis, Yuval Shafferman
| 50 minutes

Three mid-late twenty-year old roommates, all on the autistic spectrum, share a sheltered apartment, learning to cope with the world around them. On the Spectrum allows glimpses into the intricate lives of young autistic adults.

Following the screening, a Q&A with activist and film participant Buma Inbar

Muhi – Generally Temporary

Dir.: Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander, Tamir Elterman
| 86 minutes

For the past seven years Muhi, a boy from Gaza, has been living in an Israeli hospital, unable to return home. He is saved and raised in paradoxical circumstances that transcend identity, religion and the conflict that divides his world.

Maudie

Dir.: Aisling Walsh
| 115 minutes

Maud Lewis was a self-taught artist who, despite a handicap and with the help of her husband, a hardened and somewhat deformed man himself, became a well renowned artist. “One of the most beautiful and life-affirming and uplifting movies of the year” (Chicago Sun-Times).

Dina

Dir.: Dan Sickles, Antonio Santini
| 103 minutes

In a deeply intimate and moving film, we meet Dina as she and her fiancé are preparing to move in together. To outsiders, they’re both “on the spectrum,” but a closer look reveals surprising amounts of empathy and understanding. 

Screening in collaboration with ALYN Hospital

Wonder

Dir.: Stephen Chbosky
| 113 minutes

Auggie Feldman is a typical 10-year-old, except he has a facial deformity that has prevented him from going to a regular school until now. The new experience will provide plenty of obstacles to overcome. Wonder is a tremendous achievement that plays on the heartstring. 

Prior to the screening, a short musical performance by the residences of the Feurstein Institute. It is warmly recommended visiting the VR compound of the Festival and to experience the VR version of the film

Notes on Blindness

Dir.: Peter Middleton, James Spinney
| 90 minutes

An extraordinary documentary featuring Theologian, John Hall who, from 1983-1986, had recorded a series of audio diaries documenting his descent into blindness. The film combines the recordings with interviews and stunning reconstructions which reveal a sharp, fascinating and sensitive man.  

The Rider

Dir.: Chloé Zhao
| 104 minutes

After a horse crushed his skull at a rodeo, the riding days of rising rodeo circuit star Brady are over. In an attempt to regain control of his own fate, Brady undertakes a search for new identity.

An

Speaker (in Heb.): Benjamin Freidenberg

Sweet Bean

Dir.: Naomi Kawase
| 113 minutes

The manager of a pancake stall and a sympathetic elderly lady that makes home-made Ans (bean jelly filled pancakes) develop a relationship that is about much more than just street food. A beautiful and composed drama filled with culinary vistas.

The Masculine Physicality: Strength, Pain, Violence and Compassion

Speaker (in Heb.): Dr. Gabriel Bukobza, Haaretz

Kills on Wheels

Dir.: Attila Till
| 103 minutes

 Released from a prison sentence, Raspuzhov, a former fireman bound to a wheelchair, befriends two youngsters and invites them to join him on a new venture – to offer their services to the mafia as a gang of hired assassins. An original, action-packed black comedy.