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Special Guests |
The 2009 CFIC is honored the following individuals will be speaking to audiences following screenings. Please check back on the site for updates.
Ella Alterman, professor of dramatic writing and directing at Haifa University and at the School of Playwrights in Tel-Aviv, has a rich and varied experience as a writer and director for the theater, musicals, television programs, and more recently documentaries. In whatever medium, the works of this Israeli native grapple with issues of social conscience and the personal realities of larger political events. She focuses her camera on the individual rather than on the broad landscape when dealing with complex issues. Her films THE PEOPLE OF MAGDAL SHAMS, the story of six Druze villagers whose futures are linked to the elusive peace between Israel and Syria and A FENCE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SITTING-ROOM, the story of the Syrian village divided between two nations, explore the private costs of the hostile relationships of nations. Alterman seeks the individual who has defied societal restrictions or conventions and pursues his/her unique direction. Her film WITH STRONG HAND (2005) looks at the lives of orthodox Jews who are also masters of Asian martial arts. She is especially focused on women who demonstrate the courage to forge their own paths as in PHOTO BIRR, the story of ten women traveling to the south of Ethiopia and WHEN CACA MET SUGRA (2006), the story of middle-class, career women traversing the Mongolian wilderness. Alterman's other films include THE DREAM OF PARIS-DAKAR, and the recently released DUBAK - A PALESTINIAN JEW.
Eli Tal-El was born in Jerusalem on
November 27, 1952. Before
he chose to pursue a career in film-making, Eli served as an officer
for five years in the Israel defense force and subsequently was
a professional tour guide. Beginning in 1985, Eli worked as a special
events photographer; however, in 1989 when his twin daughters were
diagnosed with profound hearing impairment, he entered his film
career with the release of his first film THE
POWER OF HEARING. That same year, he established Tal-El Productions, a
Jerusalem based video company which has since developed a solid reputation
for producing award-winning documentaries such as I AM JOSEPH YOUR
BROTHER, the reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Jewish
People over the past half century, culminating the Pope John Paul
II's jubilee pilgrimage to Israel in the year 2000 and THE MYSTERY
OF TEKHELET, a fascinating journey in search of the lost secret of
tekhelet, the Biblical thread used in the tallit prayer shawl. One
documentary which is particularly close to Tal-El's heart isI HEAR
A RAINBOW: THE STORY OF ARNIE LAWRENCE, the legendary Jazz saxophonist.
Eli, a successful saxophonist as well as a film director, had the
fortunate opportunity to play with the late great Arnie Lawrence.
Rabbi Alex Felch, the spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Tikvah in Deerfield, Illinois, assisted in the official return to Judaism of the Jews of the Amazon in Iquitos, Peru and is part of the documentary THE FIRE WITHIN. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Rabbi Felch is a graduate of Hebrew University, Jerusalem, where he specialized in both Bible and History of the Jewish people. He studied at the Conservative Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano (Rabbinical Seminary of Latin America), one of the youngest ever ordained rabbis at that institution. Rabbi Felch studied clinical psychology at the University of Puerto Rico and became the "chief Rabbi" of la Isla del Encanto, ('the island of Enchantment' as Puerto Rico is known), or as he jokes, "the only Rabbi in Puerto Rico." His rabbinic style is eclectic, shaped by his living in five different countries and interacting with people in four different languages and cultures. Rabbi Alex currently co-chairs the Synagogue/Federation Commission of the Jewish United Fund and is an Executive Board Member of the Chicago Board of Rabbis. Previously he served as President of the Chicago Region of the Rabbinical Assembly and as Board Member of the Jewish United Fund Overseas Commission.
Special guests and films subject to change.
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