How the 39th Jerusalem Film Festival offered a chance to experience Israel, in reel and real | Eye News,The Indian Express
Taking in the sights and sounds of Jerusalem, seeing how the old and the new meld, and attending the 10-day festival, spread over 10 days in July, with more than 200 films, including a clutch of movies from this year's Cannes Film Festival
Streaming into Sultan’s Pool, the open-to-the-sky location of the opening film of the Jerusalem Film Festival (JFF) 2022, you are aware of the duality that is so overwhelmingly present in this wondrous city: antiquity and modernity. The large amphitheatre is said to go back to Roman times, and here we are, about to watch Ruben Ostlund’s Cannes winner, Triangle of Sadness, a film about the repercussions of 21st-century hedonism. It feels both bizarre and perfectly fitting that in this place, wherever you turn, the old and new mix and meld, making it a unique experience.
The idea is to savour the films and the place in a concise but comprehensive programme, which ensures we do both in equal measure. And we dive into it with enthusiasm from Day 1, which begins with a visit to the Old City. We go back in time as we step inside. Narrow alleys lead into the Jewish, Muslim, Christian quarters, each vastly different in flavour and aspect, each with a living population navigating the shifting complexities of the region.
Nothing I’ve read matches the actual experience, as we pause at a colourful mural filling up the whole wall (apparently a great “selfie point”, which we duly take advantage of); walk by remnants of the walls surrounding the city, and the shops heaped with artefacts and dried fruits. It is the kind of old quarter you will find across the Middle East, but here in Jerusalem, you can feel the burden of myth, history and conflict at every step.
Here’s the start of Via Dolorosa (the Path of Tears), where Christ is said to have walked, on the way to his crucifixion. Up ahead is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, with a sharp arrow of sunlight streaming in from the open dome. And now we are at the steps leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which we can go up part way for a glimpse, for only Muslims are allowed in. And then we stop at the Western Wall, a holy place where Jews pray and place their “wish-notes” in the crevices of the wall. I place one of mine and just stand there for a minute, absorbing the head-spinning amalgamation of sights and sounds, before heading off to a delicious hummus-pita-kebab lunch in the company of Daniella Gefen, our most knowledgeable guide, and Matias Sakkal, our friendly ever-helpful host.
It takes considerable effort to wrench ourselves back into the present. Riches await in the solidly programmed 39th edition of the JFF, with more than 200 films spread over 10 days. The international competition section has a clutch of films from this year’s Cannes Film Festival, including David Cronenberg’s latest body-horror provocation Crimes of The Future, Jerzy Skolimowski’s quirky treatise on donkey wisdom EO, Park Chan-wook’s crime thriller Decision to Leave, Kore-eda Hirokazu’s Broker, which can be seen as a less effective, but still powerful, companion piece to his 2018 film Shoplifters, and Ali Abbasi’s Iranian serial-killer noir Holy Spider.
Rating: 5