FILM
NY Jewish Film Festival Returns
Two fi lms with LGBTQ themes screening virtually
BY GARY M. KRAMER
Now in its 31st year, the
New York Jewish Film
Festival is screening
dozens of features,
shorts, and documentaries both
in theaters and virtually January
12-25.
One highlight of this year’s fest
is writer/director Kaveh Nabatian’s
sensual and atmospheric romantic
drama, “Sin La Habana” (screening
theatrically January 15 and 17).
This centerpiece feature chronicles
a Cuban dancer who becomes involved
with an Iranian woman in
Canada. The fi lm is impressionistic
and immersive with some fabulous
dance sequences as well as interesting
discussions of immigration,
race, spirituality, and superstition.
Not available for preview is “Persian
Lessons,” (January 16) which stars
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (of “BPM”)
as a Jewish man in a German concentration
camp who pretends to
be Persian to avoid execution but
struggles to maintain his lie and
his double life.
There are only two fi lms with
LGBTQ themes screening virtually
at this year’s fest.
“We Were the Others” is a heartfelt
documentary (that runs just
under an hour) that chronicles the
emotions and experiences of six
gay men who were grappling with
their homosexuality back in the
late 1950s and 1960s, when it was
illegal to be gay in Israel.
The interviewees are from a generation
where there was no public
discussion of homosexuality.
They describe the “homogeneous”
society where they lived in secret
— and in fear of being discovered.
They talk about the signals and
gestures that led to anonymous
sex in cruising areas such as London
Square in Tel Aviv, and the underground
network and codes that
allowed for some sexual exploration.
But these men also describe
the guilt and stigma of being gay
and the feelings of shame they had
that even led some men to seek
psychiatric treatment.
“We Were the Others” shows
“We Were the Others,” highlights the experiences of six gay men grappling with their sexuality in the late 1950s and ’60s.
how these men were emboldened
when they met other gay men who
wanted to talk, not just have sex,
and that helped create a sense of
community. Moreover, as neighbors
of London Square were upset
with the sexual activities, the gay
public meeting area shifted to the
city’s Independence Park.
But all was not rosy as men such
as one subject, David, describes
facing discrimination in his job
with the IDF for being gay. After
being dismissed from his job, he
moved to Canada, met a man, and
fell in love. Likewise, a long-term
couple describe their wonder visiting
Europe and the gay bars and
saunas in London and Amsterdam
in the pre-AIDS era.
Director Hadas Ayalon incorporates
footage of young men coupling
up in cinemas, in parks, and
even in saunas to illustrate the affections
described by the subjects
who wax nostalgically about their
same-sex experiences. The fi lmmaker
also includes footage of Israelis
refusing to employ or house
homosexuals because of their sexual
orientation.
“We Were the Others” builds its
power as these men talk about
their (self)-liberation from discovering
and reading Allen Ginsberg’s
“Howl” to publishing a fi rst-person
magazine article about being gay
that raised awareness and broke
down social barriers. In contrast,
one interviewee reveals that he
married a woman, moved to New
York, volunteered for conversion
therapy, and thought he was cured
— until his same-sex desires overtook
him again.
These anecdotes throughout
the documentary are certainly
enlightening, and the fi lm culminates
with discussions of how gay
men (and women) organized to end
the laws restricting homosexuality
and get equality in Israeli society.
These achievements were important
and impressive, and there is
a wistfulness as the fi lm jumps
ahead in time, ending with footage
from a 2018 Pride Parade. It
shows how far these men (and by
extension, lesbians, bisexuals, and
transgender people) have come
having lived most of their lives in a
restrictive society.
The other queer short screening
online at the New York Jewish
NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
Film Festival is “Mazel Tov,” which
is playing in the program entitled,
“Short Films on Creativity.” Adam
Weizmann (Peter Knoller) is at his
Bar Mitzvah party where he should
be celebrating, but everything is
going wrong. His mother (Maya Dagan)
is getting drunk because she
and Adam’s father — who is absent
— are likely divorcing. Singer Josie
Katz, who is expected to perform,
is late (and may not ever arrive).
Other crises and confl icts arise.
Adam suffers through inappropriate
speeches and catches his cousin
(Amit Rahav) performing oral
sex on Kahlil (Amir Khoury). He
eventually makes a decision to be
his authentic self in light of all of
the secrets and lies. Writer/director
Eli Zuzovsky takes a cue from
his own life for this darkly comic
short about what it means to be a
man. It may be as messy as Adam’s
Bar Mitzvah, but Zuzovsky’s heart
is in the right place.
For more information about the
New York Jewish Film Festival, visit
fi lmlinc.org
THE NEW YORK JEWISH FILM
FESTIVAL | January 12-25 at Film
at Lincoln Center and virtually.
JANUARY 13 - January 26, 2 24 022 | GayCityNews.com
/lmlinc.org
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