JIFF is the home of the most comprehensive range of Israeli and Jewish-themed films in Australia and New Zealand. The films premiere in our annual three-week film festival in November or our newly established Holocaust Film Series in March. JIFF is building on the long and proud 24-year history of Jewish film festivals in Australia.

Censored Voices (2015)

The 1967 ‘Six-Day’ war ended with Israel’s decisive victory; conquering Jerusalem, Gaza, Sinai and the West Bank. It is a war portrayed, to this day, as a righteous undertaking – a radiant emblem of Jewish pride. One week after the war, a group of young kibbutzniks, led by renowned author Amos Oz, recorded intimate conversations with soldiers returning from the battlefield. The recording revealed an honest look at the moment Israel turned from David to Goliath. The Israeli army censored the recordings, allowing the kibbutzniks to publish only a fragment of the conversations. ‘Censored Voices’ reveals the original recordings for the first time.
84 minutes.

Awards of the Israeli Film Academy 2015

DocAviv Film Festival 2015

London Film Festival 2015

Sundance Film Festival 2015

JIFF is the home of the most comprehensive range of Israeli and Jewish-themed films in Australia and New Zealand. The films premiere in our annual three-week film festival in November or our newly established Holocaust Film Series in March. JIFF is building on the long and proud 24-year history of Jewish film festivals in Australia.

Sabena Hijacking (2015)

Sabena Hijacking My Version is a powerful, suspenseful docu-drama based on previously undiscovered audio recordings of the former pilot, Captain Reginald Levy. Captain Levy (now deceased) was in command of the Sabena Flight 571 from Brussels, Belgium to Tel Aviv, Israel on 8 May 1972, when it was hijacked by four members from the “Black September”, the armed wing of Fatah or Palestine Liberalization Organisation.

The film finally shares the untold story of what exactly took place on the flight throughout 30 hours of nerve-wrecking captivity. It channels the English pilots impartial view of the events and elaborates on them with exclusive access to three revered Israeli political leaders who were in charge of the rescue effort, as well as the only surviving hijacker, who tell their own story.

Current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu featured, alongside the other key political decision makers at the time, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Prime Minister, President and Nobel Prize winner Shimon Peres.

Therese Halsa, one of the four hijackers who was a girl of just 18 at the time, gives her version of events, following release from a 220 year prison sentence of which she served 13 years. Sabena Hijacking My Version fuses candid interviews with archive material and dramatic reenactments of the tense scenes inside the aircraft and the control tower as Captain Levy was held at gunpoint.

It takes viewers into the aircraft to witness the events first-hand as the hijackers threatened to explode hand grenades unless 300 prisoners were released. It also gives insight to the tense negotiations which eventually led to a heroic rescue operation during which a special unit of soldiers (disguised as technicians) stormed the plane.

The result is a captivating, fast-paced film full of suspense, which poses significant political and historical questions that are not only still important, but have shaped the Israel of today.

104 minutes.

CANTERBURY UNIVERSITY: RAPHAEL WEIN AND NAFTALI GROSS

Tuesday October 25, 12 noon

 THE NZ INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS INVITES YOU TO WHAT PROMISES TO BE AN ENGAGING AND FASCINATING ADDRESS

Ethical Dilemmas of Serving in the Israeli Defense Forces:  Israel’s war against terrorism.

About the Speakers:

Raphael is a Business Administration and Political Science Student at Ariel University and is a reservist in the IDF.  Naftali is a medical student at the Hebrew University and a volunteer paramedic for Magen David (the equivalent of St John’s Ambulance Service in NZ) and is also a reservist in the IDF.  Both were combatants in the 2014 Gaza War. 

Venue:  Logie 104, University of Canterbury, Ilam, Christchurch.
A map showing the location of the venue may be obtained by clicking this link.

Admission is free

Feel free to pass this notice on to anyone else you feel may be interested.

THE STORY OF THE JEWS
(Part I)

CHRISTCHURCH:
SUNDAY, 2PM, 18 NOVEMBER 2018

Northwood Villa Clubrooms, O’Neill Ave, Christchurch (Note the change in venue, being different than that in the newsletter, please advise your friends and other members if you know they are interested in coming).

Simon Schama presents an epic five-part series exploring the extraordinary story of the Jewish experience from ancient times to the present day. Drawing on original scholarship and Sharma’s own family history, this is a story that is at once deeply historical and utterly contemporary, taking viewers on a journey from the biblical past to tomorrow’s front pages. Travelling the globe from the Middle East to Eastern Europe, from New York and Burlington to Cairo in Jerusalem, the story unfolds with the help of a dazzling cast of historical characters, vivid storytelling, stunning location photography, and encounters with people who live with the passions and perplexities of the Jewish story today. At the heart of the story of the Jews is a compelling argument about distinctiveness and difference, separation and isolation, tolerance and prejudice, but it is also a celebration of the ways in which Jewish thought, Jewish imagination and Jewish achievement have transformed the world for us all.

In a review for The Daily Telegraph, Neil Midgley described the first episode as a “resounding success”, saying: “Schama told the story efficiently and evocatively – and deftly picked out stories that would illustrate his overarching thesis about how Judaism managed to survive…In Schama’s view, to be a Jew is to be verbal…By the end of this first episode, Schama had given the title of his programme an intriguing double meaning. Over its four remaining parts, The Story of the Jews promises to be not only a chronological history, but also a common narrative of what unifies and fortifies Jewish people”

Part 1 starts with Creation

Where:  Northwood Villa Clubrooms, McNeill Ave, Northwood, Christchurch.  Please note the venue is different from that published in our newsletter.

When:  2pm, Sunday November 18.

Admission:  A plate of finger food.  Please no pork or seafood products. 

THE STORY OF THE JEWS
(Part II)

CHRISTCHURCH:
SUNDAY, 2PM, 17 February 2019

Northwood Villa Clubrooms, O’Neill Ave, Christchurch 

Simon Schama presents an epic five-part series exploring the extraordinary story of the Jewish experience from ancient times to the present day. Drawing on original scholarship and Sharma’s own family history, this is a story that is at once deeply historical and utterly contemporary, taking viewers on a journey from the biblical past to tomorrow’s front pages. Travelling the globe from the Middle East to Eastern Europe, from New York and Burlington to Cairo in Jerusalem, the story unfolds with the help of a dazzling cast of historical characters, vivid storytelling, stunning location photography, and encounters with people who live with the passions and perplexities of the Jewish story today. At the heart of the story of the Jews is a compelling argument about distinctiveness and difference, separation and isolation, tolerance and prejudice, but it is also a celebration of the ways in which Jewish thought, Jewish imagination and Jewish achievement have transformed the world for us all.

In a review for The Daily Telegraph, Neil Midgley described the first episode as a “resounding success”, saying: “Schama told the story efficiently and evocatively – and deftly picked out stories that would illustrate his overarching thesis about how Judaism managed to survive…In Schama’s view, to be a Jew is to be verbal…By the end of this first episode, Schama had given the title of his programme an intriguing double meaning. Over its four remaining parts, The Story of the Jews promises to be not only a chronological history, but also a common narrative of what unifies and fortifies Jewish people”

Part 1 starts with Creation

Where:  Northwood Villa Clubrooms, McNeill Ave, Northwood, Christchurch.  Please note the venue is different from that published in our newsletter.

When:  2pm, Sunday February 17.

Admission:  A plate of finger food.  Please no pork or seafood products. 

THE STORY OF THE JEWS
(Part V)

CHRISTCHURCH:
Thursday, 7.00 PM, 24 October 2019

Woolston Community Library Hall, 689 Ferry Rd, Christchurch 

Simon Schama presents an epic five-part series exploring the extraordinary story of the Jewish experience from ancient times to the present day. Drawing on original scholarship and Sharma’s own family history, this is a story that is at once deeply historical and utterly contemporary, taking viewers on a journey from the biblical past to tomorrow’s front pages. Travelling the globe from the Middle East to Eastern Europe, from New York and Burlington to Cairo in Jerusalem, the story unfolds with the help of a dazzling cast of historical characters, vivid storytelling, stunning location photography, and encounters with people who live with the passions and perplexities of the Jewish story today. At the heart of the story of the Jews is a compelling argument about distinctiveness and difference, separation and isolation, tolerance and prejudice, but it is also a celebration of the ways in which Jewish thought, Jewish imagination and Jewish achievement have transformed the world for us all.

In a review for The Daily Telegraph, Neil Midgley described the first episode as a “resounding success”, saying: “Schama told the story efficiently and evocatively – and deftly picked out stories that would illustrate his overarching thesis about how Judaism managed to survive…In Schama’s view, to be a Jew is to be verbal…By the end of this first episode, Schama had given the title of his programme an intriguing double meaning. Over its four remaining parts, The Story of the Jews promises to be not only a chronological history, but also a common narrative of what unifies and fortifies Jewish people”

Where:  Woolston Community Library Hall, 689 Ferry Rd, Christchurch.  Please note the time, date and venue is different from that published in our newsletter.

When:  7.00pm, Thursday October 24.

Admission:  A plate of finger food.  Please no pork or seafood products. 

NZ Governments and Israel

4.30pm, Sunday, October 11

Hao Room, Halswell Centre, 341 Halswell Rd, Christchurch

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Ashley Church is a current director of the Israel Institute of NZ and has a business partnership with ex-network newsreader and public relations consultant, Rawdon Christie. He also provides consulting and management services to Membership Organisations, Associations and Business Coops.

The Israel Institute of New Zealand is an independent think tank dedicated to providing New Zealanders with a better understanding of the State of Israel through accurate analysis, insightful commentary, and effective advocacy.

He is an NZME correspondent, for Energy, and Business issues and has appeared on My House My Castle, NZ Open Home, ASB I Want to Buy a Home and TVNZ Breakfast.

ADMISSION

Please bring a plate of finger food,  no pork or seafood products.  A collection will be taken to help defray travel and other event-related costs.

Leon Malmed

Wednesday 21 February @ 6:30pm
Leon Malmed was born in France in 1937, and is a survivor of the Holocaust, in which his parents were killed at Auschwitz. Leon moved to the USA in the 1960s, where he lives today. After 60 years of total silence about his childhood and experience during World War II, Leon decided to write and publish his memoir “We Survived… At Last, I Speak”. Leon is visiting Christchurch and graciously offered tell his story while he is in town, to talk about his life and answer questions.

Because of heightened security alerts because of October 7, here are the protocols for admission:

1. You must be a paid up member.
2. You must RSVP to NZFOI by email to contact@nzfoi.org by Tuesday 10pm.
3. If you are a paid-up member then we will advise you of the venue by return email.
4. On Wednesday evening, your membership and identification will be checked at the entrance to the venue.

These terms will be strictly adhered to: Exceptions will not be accepted.
If you are unsure of your membership status contact our treasurer jaclarke@orcon.net.nz.