Other Israel Film Festival Spotlight: Invisibles

I’m delighted to be returning for the fourth time to cover the Other Israel Film Festival, which features a diverse crop of Israeli and Palestinian cinema and is hosted by the JCC Manhattan. The 8th Annual Other Israel Film Festival will take place November 6th-13th, 2014.

Invisibles
Directed by Mushon Salmona
Screening November 9 at 6pm, November 10 at 8:30pm, and November 11 at 8pm

This film broadens the definition of “Other Israel” to include a facet of Israeli society not always portrayed in depictions of the country: the Bedouins. The story begins with a Bedouin soldier being discharged and returning to his home life to find that everything he knew to be true is slipping away. Combining his extended family’s struggle’s to stay afloat and keep their land and animals with his growing affection for his cousin’s girlfriend makes for a particularly appealing and unique story. It’s one that could feasibly take place in any culture, but seeing it play out in this particular setting proves to be very effective. The performances are strong and the film’s stark visuals are appropriately uncolorful and simplistic, representative of the contrast between city life and time spent in the army and a rural community removed from that world. Its title is fitting, and this film is a refreshing find.