Israelism

Uncover the insidious ways in which our daily lives are being surveilled by the state. In a gripping chase, Ronan Farrow travels across the world following breadcrumbs and finally exposing a dark world of spywares, hacking, and peddling of private information, where activists and journalists are persecuted, and no one is protected from the watchful and vicious eyes of authoritarianism.

Some 40 years after setting foot in Israel for the first time, journalist Pierre Nadeau felt the desire to return there to take stock of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In the fall of 2002, it was announced that Benjamin Netanyahu would deliver a speech at Concordia University in Montreal, and reaction from the student body was swift and sudden.

A strong east wind brings snow, rain and also memories of her father. Only a few objects, newspaper clippings and diary entries make him present. But Maia would like to know him better, to piece together a complete portrait from the fragments. For this reason, she leaves Argentina, the land of her home, and travels to the West Bank, where her absent parent comes from. But at first she finds only more ruins, the remains of houses destroyed by the Israeli occupiers. As slowly as the calm sea ripples, the author's pilgrimage to her roots turns into an encounter with an entire nation that has been stripped of its home. The shared experience of loss helps her to fill the empty space in her heart.

For more than forty years, British journalist Robert Fisk has reported on some of the most violent conflicts in the world, from Northern Ireland to the Middle East, always with his feet on the ground and a notebook in hand, travelling into landscapes devastated by war, ferreting out the facts and sending reports to the media he works for with the ambition of catching the interest of an audience of millions.

Going to the very heart of the Bible's most challenging Book, this one hour documentary decodes the visions of Revelation 12 and 17 for everyone to understand. Journeying from the birth of Christ through the Christian era, this amazing video pulls aside the veil of hidden history to reveal the rise of Babylon, the persecution of the bride of Christ, and the real-world identity of the beast. Educational and inspiring, Revelation delivers the keys to understanding the epic conflict between Christ and Satan and what it means for your life today.

What drives a young, well-educated Westerner to volunteer as a “peace activist” in the Middle East? Caiomhe Butterly is one of a growing number of volunteers who risk their own safety to intervene in the long-running and bloody conflict between Israel and Palestine. Several internationals, including her, have now been injured. Some have died. In this film, she describes witnessing the aftermath of the attack on Jenin in April 2002. The film follows her work, the main emphasis being “the accompaniment of communities at risk”. Despite being threatened, shot in the leg and deported later that year, she is determined to go back.

One war, ten days, three stories: the Old City of Jerusalem, at the dawn of a new Middle East. For the Brits, it’s the shameful end of 30 years Mandate. For the Jews, it’s the birthday of their State. And for the Palestinians, it’s a catastrophe. Only now, 60 years later, images can be shown from three opposing points of view, telling a whole new story.

Ian loves camp. 2011 marks his seventh year at William Lawrence Camp in New Hampshire, USA. After many summers as a camper, 2011 was his first year as a full camp counselor. Ian's love and enthusiasm for his summer retreat are unrivaled. How will he adapt to the demands of his new role?

The conflict in Israel today is often linked to the belief that the Bible serves as the Israelis' claim to the land, based on God's covenant with Abraham, Moses, and the Israelites. Filmmaker Timothy Mahoney investigates this by exploring ancient prophecies made by Moses, which predicted Israel’s rise as a kingdom, its fall due to breaking the covenant, the scattering of its people, their persecution, and eventual return to the land. Using archaeological evidence and expert insights, Mahoney delves into these events, raising deeper questions about Israel's suffering, their chosen status, and its relevance today. "The Israel Dilemma – Ancient Prophecies" is part one of a two-part film series exploring these themes.

In his abbreviated one and a half terms as Prime Minister of Israel, Menachem Begin faced a maelstrom of challenges and made a handful of fateful decisions that led to both creating peace and launching a hubristic war. This multi-faceted portrait merges rare archival footage shown for the first time, as well as current interviews of key figures from Begin’s time as Prime Minister.

A film made by four Palestinians living through extraordinary times. Filming from the first days of the war, Khalid, Aya, Adam and Aseel document their own lives as they endure bombing raids, multiple evacuations, family separations and reunions, deaths, and even the birth of a new life amidst the chaos.

Can a language save your life? Yes it can, even an ancient one from the 15th century. Saved by Language tells the story of Moris Albahari, a Sephardic Jew from Sarajevo (born 1930), who spoke Ladino/Judeo-Spanish, his mother tongue, to survive the Holocaust. Moris used Ladino to communicate with an Italian Colonel who helped him escape to a Partizan refuge after he ran away from the train taking Yugoslavian Jews to Nazi death camps. By speaking in Ladino to a Spanish-speaking US pilot in 1944 he was able to survive and lead the pilot, along with his American and British colleagues, to a safe Partizan airport.

A young man decides to join the army. He becomes the drummer in the military band, and his everyday life is now a combination of military training and music. What does the Argentine Army do these days, more than thirty years after the dictatorship? What does it mean to be a soldier in a country without wars?

The ideologies underlying the foundation of modern Israel are explored in this documentary, the third of a trilogy (created over a twenty year span) exploring the Jewish experience. The two earlier documentaries, "Porquoi Israel," and "Shoah," have had great effect on the ways documentaries are produced. "Tsahal" zeroes in on the crucial role of the military in Israeli society and politics. The film uses many in-depth interviews to present the many feelings and thoughts about the Israeli military.

An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.

Seven militant women (fedaiyat) of the revolutionary generation tell the story of the Palestinian resistance through accounts of their own lives. Cut from 35 hours of interviews with leaders of the armed struggle, the film presents an image of confident, unapologetic and proud feminine identity. Together, the memories of these women narrate the dream of a generation, yet unrealized.

The inside story of the Palestinian-Swedish band Kofia, told through film and music. Singer-songwriter George Totari fled Palestine during Israel's 1967 war and founded a band dedicated to liberation. Bringing the sounds and struggles of the Palestinians.

How US politicians and diplomats, over the past 25 years, have come close to achieving something almost impossible: securing peace between the State of Israel and its Arab and like-minded neighbors, mired in a struggle both dialectical and violent since the early 20th century, due to historical and religious reasons, entrenched offenses and prejudices, and the invisible and tyrannical hand of third countries' geopolitical interests in the area.

An inside look at the Palestinian intifada which began in late 1987. Filmed in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, this documentary reveals the horrors of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.