Israeli filmmaker Asaf Galay’s new documentary ‘The Adventures of Saul Bellow’ takes a deep dive into the artistry and tumultuous personal life of the American Jewish writer
The stairway to Calvary in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (Pixabay/Piotr Pindur)
As I listened to Jesuit Fr. James McDermott read the Passion from the Gospel of Mark this Palm Sunday, I closed my eyes and my imagination took me back to late December 2019, when I had the opportunity to visit Jerusalem and parts of Israel.
I was there to be a member of the interreligious jury for the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival. We formed a small jury, including Benjamin Freidenberg, a Jewish film professor from Jerusalem, and Kamal Hachkar, a Muslim filmmaker from Marrakesh, Morocco.
Bukra fil Mish Mish director Tal Michael. (Courtesy)
From left: David, Shlomo, and Herschel Frenkel, with the poster for a Mish Mish film. (Courtesy Menemsha Films)
A still from Bukra fil Mish Mish featuring the title character opposite real-life Lebanese singer Sabah. (Menemsha Films)
Thousands cheer Egypt s King Farouk, seen driving with then-prime minister Ali Maher Pasha in Cairo, May 11, 1936. (AP Photo/Staff/Len Puttnam)
Mish Mish Effendi, a character developed by the Frankel brothers in the 1930s. (Screenshot from Bukra fil Mish-Mish )
Even in Egypt, few today know about the three Jewish brothers who pioneered Egyptian cartoon animation back in the 1930s. On the international stage, they are today compared to a Middle Eastern version of the Disney brothers.