Arts & Entertainment

Film Series at Temple Habonim Offers Broad View of Jewish Life

Summer film series at Temple Habonim in Barrington offers a broad view of Jewish life.

Temple Habonim in Barrington opens a summer film series on Sunday evening, July 21, and you’re invited.

The three-movie series on consecutive Sundays is part of the “Time for Me” adult education program at Temple Habonim. All the films air at 7 pm in the Temple at 165 New Meadow Road.

The films offer a broad view of Jewish life, from an Israeli and Palestinian who are inadvertently switched at birth; to a documentary on the history and mystery of Hava Nagila; to the beautiful portrayal of the freedom of a butterfly seen in the eyes of a child artist in Terezin and the mime who is forced by his captors to perform to deceive the Red Cross.

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The Other Son opens the series on Sunday. As he prepares to join the Israeli army for his national service, Joseph discovers he is not his parents’ biological son, but that the hospital accidentally switched him with Yassin, the son of a Palestinian West Bank family.  As their families struggle with the startling revelation, the young men have a unique insight into the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.  The film, released in 2012 was featured at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Jerusalem and Tokyo film festival.

On Sunday, July 28, the film is Hava Nagila. This is a documentary romp through the meaning of the Israeli national anthem.  Featured interviews are with Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, and more.  The film follows the song on its journey from the shteltls of Eastern Europe to the cul-de-sacs of America to Youtube and is fun and entertaining. It was released in 2012 and featured at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center as well as in theaters throughout the country. 

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On Sunday, August 4, the film is The Last Butterfly. Stage mime Antoine Moreau (Tom Courtenay) is compelled by the Gestapo to put on a performance for the children of Terezin, a “model” concentration camp, to convince the Red Cross observers that the camp is truly what it seems. Reluctant at first, Moreau slowly learns the true nature of the camp, including the meaning of the “transports” on which people leave. With a world-class orchestra (made up of people interned in the camp) and a cast of children, Moreau stages a show to end all shows. “The Last Butterfly takes its title from one of the real life sketches made by a Jewish girl in Terezin showing a butterfly swooping away over the barbed wire fence to freedom. The sketch is preserved in a special museum in Prague with the legend, Died in Auschwitz 16-10-44.”

The showings, which include popcorn, are free. 


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