Join us for an in-person screening of the award-winning documentary film Israelism and a Palestinian buffet, followed by a virtual Q&A with co-director Sam Eilertsen.
Tuesday, November 19, 2024, from 5:30pm to 8:30pm
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON
Admission is free. Register through ExperinceBU, Kinema, or at the door. Visit Kinema for information about public parking.
For more information, contact: IsraelismNiagara@gmail.com.
Download a PDF of this poster to share here.
Co-sponsored/endorsed by Independent Jewish Voices Hamilton; Jewish Faculty Network; Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel; Silver Spire United Church; Brock University: Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies; Faculty for Palestine; Indigenous Educational Studies; President’s Advisory Committee for Human Rights, Equity, and Decolonization; Social Justice and Equity Studies MA Program; Social Justice Research Institute.
Visit Israelism Film for full film details, or learn more about the film and Sam Eilertsen below:
Synopsis:
Two young American Jews – Simone Zimmerman and Eitan – are raised to defend the state of Israel at all costs. Eitan joins the Israeli military. Simone supports Israel on ‘the other battlefield:’ America’s college campuses. When they witness Israel’s mistreatment of the Palestinian people with their own eyes, they are horrified and heartbroken.
They join the movement of young American Jews battling the old guard over Israel’s centrality in American Judaism, and demanding freedom for the Palestinian people. Their stories reveal a generational divide in the American Jewish community as more young Jews question the narratives their synagogues and Hebrew school teachers fed them as children.
The film also features voices like Jacqui, a Jewish educator who says “Judaism is Israel and Israel is Judaism”, and former Anti-Defamation League President Abe Foxman, who claims voices like Simone and Eitan’s represent a small minority. Thought leaders like Peter Beinart, Jeremy Ben-Ami, Noura Erakat, Cornel West, and Noam Chomsky also weigh in.
Directed by two first-time Jewish filmmakers who share a similar story to the film’s protagonists, Israelism is produced by Peabody winner and six-time Emmy nominee Daniel J. Chalfen (Loudmouth, Boycott) along with activist and filmmaker Nadia Saah (Mo, Omar, 5 Broken Cameras), executive produced by two-time Emmy winner Brian A. Kates (Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Succession, The Plot Against America) and edited by Emmy winner Tony Hale (The Story of Plastic).
Sam Eilertsen, Director/Producer:
Sam worked for a decade as a cinematographer and editor on narrative and documentary projects before directing Israelism, which is his directorial debut. He is also directing the upcoming documentary Generation Green New Deal, which follows the youth climate movement, and Vs Goliath, a documentary series on frontline environmental justice activists, which was selected for the prestigious CNN/Film Independent 2023 Docuseries Intensive.