By Charlotte Anthony, Special to JTNews
Note: This article has been corrected to note that not all films are open to the general public.
Students and community members who want to learn more about daily life in Israel now have a way to do so: Through film. Every other Wednesday night, the Stroum Jewish Studies Program at the University of Washington offers an Israeli film class, and in some cases it has been opened to the public.
“It [gives] students an opportunity to see feature films, which we didn’t have time for during the lecture course,” said Professor Naomi Sokoloff, who teaches the course. “I think students love to see films.”
The class was first offered in the winter 2011 quarter as a two-credit supplement to a larger lecture course, “Israel: Dynamic Society and Global Flashpoint,” which focuses on historical decisions, political issues, and current events in Israel.
Orlie Golan, a junior in the class, said it was interesting for her as an Israeli to compare her experiences in Israel with those of the Israelis in the movies.
“I think that the films we watched are very relatable to the day-to-day life in Israel because they encompass real issues in Israel, whether it’s secular vs. religious, Tel Aviv vs. Jerusalem or Arabs vs. Israelis,” said Golan. “These are issues that are prevalent in Israeli society.”
Professor Noam Pianko, chair of the Jewish Studies Program, said it was important for the program to share Israeli culture as well as politics.
“I think Israel has a good record of producing excellent films,” said Pianko. “[The course] offers a way for students to engage Israel the way Israelis engage Israel, and film provides a more nuanced way of appreciating the complexity of life in Israel.”
Jake Lustig, a UW senior and former Israel programming intern for Hillel at the UW, said that as part of his internship, he used Facebook to advertise to his friends about the class. The films are screened at Hillel.
Within a few days of being online, the course had 40 to 50 students sign up.
Lustig believes the structure of the class was an important reason students signed up.
“I think different mediums of education can be powerful. You can read about these conflicts, but to be able to sit there and see them,” said Lustig. “That visual and auditory aspect can be powerful, and for a lot of students I think that’s one of the draws for the class.”
Lustig said one of the interesting aspects of the class was that because it has been opened to the public, community members have come to some of the screenings. Sokoloff told JTNews that due to restrictions by some film distributors, not all of the films are open to the public. Anyone in the greater community interested in attending should contact the Jewish Studies Program office first.
“It became very much like if you weren’t doing anything every other Wednesday night, even if you weren’t in the class, you could go to Hillel to see a good film and have a good discussion about it,” Lustig said.
Sara Lucas, director of undergraduate engagement at Hillel, said she is excited that the class is taking place at Hillel because it gives students the opportunity to get exposed to Israeli films.
“I think it’s really meaningful to have members of the community come, because they offer a different perspective than college students,” said Lucas. “It’s a different conversation because they have different life experiences.”
Elizabeth Kent, a junior, said she enjoys the class because the films highlight different areas of Israeli society.
“The Israeli films that [Professor Sokoloff] picks are really focused on giving you a glimpse of life in Israel and it’s really to get to know the culture and the families that make up the culture of Israel,” said Kent. “She picks films that show a historical background so you are really getting a comprehensive overview of daily life in Israel beyond the politics.”
This quarter, some of the featured films include Dolphin Boy, which focuses on trauma and healing in Eilat; Ushpizin, a Sukkot tale that focuses on religious and secular Jews in Israel; and Tel Aviv-Yafo, a documentary on the history of Tel Aviv.
Lustig also added that although the class covers many topics in Israeli society, it is only an introduction.
“It’s not like you’re going to take this class and immediately understand all the issues, because you won’t,” he said. “But you can start to learn all of the dynamics that are involved and hopefully give you a better understanding of how the situation is the way it is and how that action plays out on the ground.”
After the movie, the class engages in a discussion of the film.
“I think discussions are needed to understand [films]. A lot of films have subtle nuances and to understand Israel, you have to understand Israeli culture, Israeli history, Israeli religious history so the discussions are vital for people who don’t know that,” Lustig said.
Golan believes the film class provides an opportunity for people who have never been to Israel to get a perspective of Israel outside mass media.
“I think it’s important to look at Israel in terms of culture versus just media portrayal,” Golan said. “I think especially for students, it gives young people a way to see Israel as a normal place. Israelis have a day-to-day life, and that’s hard to see through the media.”
Charlotte Anthony is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communications News Laboratory.