Tel Aviv Diary: Karen Alkalay-Gut

July 30, 2010 – Hot Carmel

Karen Alkalay-Gut — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:06:32 +0000

The Carmel Market was crazier than ever today – the heat was incredible and the place was full of tourists. Because we began with a beer at Papa’s, we bought twice as much as we’d planned, but now we’re going to make Gevetch for dinner. And a nice carrot-ginger soup. So nothing is wasted.
And the pizza we had at Papa’s will keep me.

July 30, 2010 – Tuesdays with Yossi

Karen Alkalay-Gut — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:05:48 +0000

Even though I really don’t like to see plays in translation, the other night we went to Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays with Morrie.” Through the sieve of Hebrew, this American play, which I’ve also seen as a movie, comes out more profound and Jewish and Buddhist, albeit shmaltzy. Yossi Graber is as incredible as ever.

July 29, 2010 – Miscellaneous

Karen Alkalay-Gut — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:45:29 +0000

Miscellaneous

Blogging can be dangerous. Look at Karim Amer

A Film Unfinished
Directed by : Yael Hersonski
Produced by : Noemi Schory & Itai Ken Tor

At the end of WWII, 60 minutes of raw film, having sat undisturbed in an East German archive, was discovered. Shot by the Nazis in Warsaw in May 1942, and labeled simply “Ghetto,” this footage quickly became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record of the Warsaw Ghetto. However, the later discovery of a long-missing reel complicated earlier readings of the footage. A FILM UNFINISHED presents the raw footage in its entirety, carefully noting fictionalized sequences (including a staged dinner party) falsely showing “the good life” enjoyed by Jewish urbanites, and probes deep into the making of a now-infamous Nazi propaganda film.
A FILM UNFINISHED is a film of enormous import, documenting some of the worst horrors of our time and exposing the efforts of its perpetrators to propel their agenda and cast it in a favorable light.
IN THEATERS
08/18/10 – New York, NY – Film Forum
08/20/10 – New York, NY – Lincoln Plaza
08/27/10 – Encino, CA – Laemmle Town Center
09/24/10 – Baltimore, MD – Charles
09/24/10 – Boston, MA – Landmark Kendall Square
09/24/10 – San Diego, CA – Landmark Ken
09/24/10 – Washington, DC – Landmark E Street
10/01/10 – Berkeley, CA – Landmark Shattuck
10/01/10 – Mill Valley, CA – Cinemark Sequoia
10/01/10 – Phoenix, AZ – Camelview
10/01/10 – Pleasant Hill, CA – Cinemark CineArts
10/01/10 – San Francisco, CA – Landmark Opera Plaza
10/01/10 – San Francisco, CA – Landmark Opera Plaza
10/01/10 – San Jose, CA – Cinemark Santana Row
10/15/10 – Palm Desert, CA – Cinemas Palme d’Or
10/15/10 – Philadelphia, PA – Landmark Ritz at the Bourse
10/22/10 – Columbus, OH – Wexner Center
11/05/10 – Dallas, TX – Angelika
11/05/10 – Denver, CO – Landmark Chez Artiste
11/05/10 – Houston, TX – Angelika
11/05/10 – Miami, FL – Intracoastal 8
11/05/10 – Sunrise, FL – Sunrise 11
1st Prize for best documentary,,Documentary Competition, Jerusalem Film Festival
1st Prize for best feature documentary, Hotdocs, Toronto
Editing Prize, Sundance film Festival 2010
Script award, Silverdocs, Washington D.C

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khut0kKn-c8

July 28, 2010 – bris

Karen Alkalay-Gut — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:44:43 +0000

Omer Katz had his first experience of being Jewish today. It isn’t so much the physical part that bothered him, but all those people, all the fuss, all those bourekas and wine.

July 27, 2010 – The Old Heroes

Karen Alkalay-Gut — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:42:23 +0000

Exhausted by the hectic day, with a thousand things to do for tomorrow morning, I wasn’t happy about waiting three hours in the torturous chairs of the optomologist. And opposite us were a very old couple, who seemed to remember nothing. They admired Ezi’s sandals and asked where they came from, and this started us on an internet search for the store. The woman sat with pen poised to write the address down, even though the sandals could be bought anywhere. Trying to remember their immediate past so they could share it with us, the woman touched her cheek and shook her head. They seemed so out of it. Until we got back into a more clear time – When he was 14, he said, his mother took him to the Lodz train station and said, “Child, save yourself.” That was the last time he saw her. She was killed soon after, and he was taken in by the partisans and remained in the service of the Russians until Malenkov…no Gomulka…let them out. When he showed me the watch he was given by Putin I was more than convinced that all the stories of heroism he had told me in the hours we waited for the doctor were not only true, but incomplete.

I have found this experience to be characteristic of the elderly in Israel. Once you get past the senility, there is a rich and heroic past.

July 26, 2010 – Love love love

Karen Alkalay-Gut — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:58:50 +0000

This is the day of love, Tu B’Av, and it is our 30th wedding anniversary, and the fifth day of grandson’s life, and we are planning the protocol of a wedding, so there is a great deal of love that seems to be able to move mountains.

July 24, 2010 – Shabbat

Karen Alkalay-Gut — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:21:24 +0000

If you are not religious, what is shabbat to you? To me it’s holy. Even if there’s no divinity, no religion, no synagogue. Even if I do nothing different.

Where did that come from, you ask? Something inside. That’s all.

July 23, 2010 – Basic driving and more

Karen Alkalay-Gut — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:22:03 +0000

Because Orit chose to give birth in Tel Hashomer, which is out of my beaten path, I spend a great deal of time on the road nowadays, and have the opportunity to observe the problem that is constantly being discussed here of traffic accidents. People are texting, talking on the phone, looking around at other people, cars, etc. The one thing we should take into account is that driving is too easy now. When you had to keep your car in gear, you couldn’t afford to look anywhere but where you were going, but with no choke, no shift, no hand signals to keep you busy, driving is a cinch. So you look elsewhere to occupy yourself as you speed along.

In a way this is true of diplomacy – we rely on media to transmit our message, our image, etc. that we’ve forgotten that we have to keep our minds on the basic stuff. Like talking.

So I should mention the most important thing that has happened to me. this is the baby – at 6 hours of age. The marks from the forceps (don’t ask) are fading.

July 22, 2010 – Israel Museum

Karen Alkalay-Gut — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:27:23 +0000

A few days ago we met with a friend who is one of the curators in the Israel Museum. The excitement at the renovations was palpable. And today, in the Times there is a review that proves it will be a very exciting place. Looks very modern and multicultural and I’m looking forward to seeing it soon.

July 22, 2010 – A tiny comparison

Karen Alkalay-Gut — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:00:46 +0000

Sometimes all I want to do when I look around in this country is complain. There are so many things wrong – in the society, in the government, in education, in the health system. But because I have Ezi around to remind me of the way things were, even before the State of Israel, I very often wonder at the amazing achievements. The other day (which seems given what has happened in between like a lifetime) my cousin was recalling my aunt’s life in Israel after the work camps in Poland – her back broken by hard work. I remember her 2 room shack, the trees, the simple and beautiful life they created out of so little. I am also certain that she would not have been a cripple had she lived today.