CARMEL/Austin Film Society

Tonight's Essential Cinema from the CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM/IBRAHIM series was a film by Amos Gitai, a well known Israeli filmmaker.  This is an autobiographical  complex and lyrical film that mixes the difficulty inherent to Israeli life with the personal intimacy and beauty that Gitai had within his own family.  He is the son of educated parents who came to Israel before it was a state.  He traveled between the U.S., Europe and Israel for his education, to make films, to live comfortably.  There is no doubt that this filmmaker loves his homeland while openly declaring what he sees as  wrong and hurtful and dangerous.  He tells his son "it is hard to be a father in Israel."  He shows his viewers how hard it is to be an Israeli.  Thanks again to Chale Nafus for providing us with 4+ pages of program notes, history, and insight.  Best of all was his introductory advice "sit back and enjoy this film, don't try to figure out which war was which and if the little red haired boy is Amos.  He is."