June 9, 2021 4:36 pm Israeli actresses Alena Yiv, left, and Shira Haas play a mother and daughter in Asia, an award-winning Israeli film now seeing a U.S. release. (Courtesy of Menemsha Films)
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(JTA) Shira Haas, the Israeli actress who vaulted into superstardom with her roles in the TV series “Shtisel” and “Unorthodox,” has a track record of playing multifaceted characters. Nonetheless, she faced unprecedented challenges when making the new film “Asia,” which dominated last year’s Ophir Awards (the Israeli equivalent to the Oscars) and is seeing a U.S. release this week.
In the starkly photographed, minimalist film, Haas plays Vika, a tough yet sensitive kid struggling from a degenerative neurological disease. She lives with her single mother, Asia (Alena Yiv), a free spirit, and the two women are forced to come to terms with Vika’s accelerating condition.
The Golden Globes drew
criticism last week when it was reported that Lee Isaac Chung’s
“Minari,” one of this year’s most acclaimed American films, would be classified as a foreign-language film because its dialogue is primarily in Korean. The move means the film, a festival darling that tells the story of a Korean American family that moves to an Arkansas farm in the 1980s, will not compete in best picture categories. Stars Steven Yeun and Yeri Han will still be eligible in the leading drama actor categories.
You might remember a similar outcry erupted last year when Lulu Wang’s
As with most 2020 events, the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival is reinventing itself.
For the first time in its 22-year history, the most popular of Enzian Theater s mini-fests will be held entirely online, with six features and two shorts streaming Nov. 14-16. And in another first, the fest will include two films by local directors. We re thrilled to be able to include two acclaimed shorts this year that have local roots, says Matthew Curtis, Enzian programming director. Both
Resemblance and
The Shabbos Goy are by Central Florida filmmakers [Kevin O Neill and Talia Osteen]. We re very happy with the diversity and quality of this year s program and the balance of narrative and documentary, drama and comedy, and domestic and international filmmaking.