A landmark for gay cema -- and one of the bt Jewish films years | The Tim of Israel

Contents:

• A LANDMARK FOR GAY CEMA — AND ONE OF THE BT JEWISH FILMS YEARS
• THE SHOCKG LIFE OF ISRAEL'S MOST FAMO GAY PORN STAR
• GAY DIRECTOR ADAM KALRON PICTS HOMOPHOBIA THE SWIMMG WORLD WH ‘THE SWIMMER’

A LANDMARK FOR GAY CEMA — AND ONE OF THE BT JEWISH FILMS YEARS

We take a look at the celebrated gay scene Israel wh an eclectic variety of some of the most ntroversial and celebrated LGBT films wrten, directed and produced the untry. Oriented (2012) Oriented is a fascatg documentary film about three gay Paltian iends their 20s livg life Tel Aviv.

The film is not only a morn tale of the trials and tribulatns of beg gay society, also documents the difficulti of beg gay for Paltian men and how the issue clash wh Islamic doctre.

Directed by Eytan Fox, this romantic film follows two gay soldiers the Israeli ary as they al wh daily life at the Israel-Lebanon borr. The film, a directorial but for Michael Mayer, portrays the polil plitns of an Israeli fallg love wh a Paltian the Wt Bank and the evable problems of homosexualy a nservative Mlim society.

THE SHOCKG LIFE OF ISRAEL'S MOST FAMO GAY PORN STAR

As JW3, the Jewish muny centre north London, lnch GayW3, celebratg the liv of the LGBTQ muny throughout history to the prent day through film, theatre, mic and discsn, and upliftg Brish-Israeli documentary Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?, backed by the BFI, prepar for s cema release, now is a great time to look back at the bt of Jewish and Israeli LGBT cema.

Gay Jewish characters have been the subject of great films om around the world, and the list below featur films om the UK, France, Germany, the US, and, of urse, Israel.

GAY DIRECTOR ADAM KALRON PICTS HOMOPHOBIA THE SWIMMG WORLD WH ‘THE SWIMMER’

A number of Brish films jt missed the list, cludg Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), which Jewish doctor Peter Fch enjoyed Brish cema’s first male-on-male kiss; award-wng short film Sidney Turtlebm (2008), starrg Derek Jabi as an elrly gay Jewish pickpocket and nman; and Lisa Gornick’s latt film, The Book of Gabrielle (2016), a funny and sharp study of a Jewish lbian whose sexualy is thrown to turmoil.

My Son Is Gay!! The 10 films foc on culturally Jewish films featurg gay and lbian protagonists, almost all of which were directed by Jewish filmmakers.

His adaptatn of Mart Crowley’s play, about a group of gay men who gather for Harold’s party, rultg a cel eveng of sadistic gam and sabotage, me at the wrong time – as the gay liberatn movement tablished s voice the early 1970s, negative or prsg pictns of gay men the media were seen as archaic and obstctive to progrs.

While Michael, the pathetic protagonist, is ed an unlikeable and self-pyg monster, the other characters are far more sympathetic, while the glor Harold, utterly unashamed of his homosexualy and wh nothg to hi, emerg om the rnage unsthed. Friedk would go on to make a far more dub gay film – the notor S&M killer thriller Cisg (1980). Torch Song Trilogy (1988)Harvey Fierste is bt known for his stage work, particularly for wrg the books for the stage mils La Cage x Foll and Kky Boots, jog Stephen Sondheim and Jerry Herman as Broadway legends who happened to be both gay and Jewish.

It hasn’t dated a jot – more’s the py, as ristance to effemate men and gay adoptn still prevail today. The star of the show, though, is Fierste, who mak Arnold a lovable, vulgar and believably human figure who challenged the perceptn of drag queens as sexls clowns shamg the gay muny. Amazg Grace (1992)Gay men don’t se much the cema of Amos Guttman.

He kicked off his short reer wh Driftg (1982), a grim, semi-tobgraphil tale of a gay filmmaker tryg and failg to fd love and fundg for his next film. Amazg Grace, ma nearly a later, is a much stronger piece of work, about two gay men – one an nocent teenager om a troubled fay, the other an HIV patient – who fall for each other after meetg Tel Aviv. In Man Is a Woman, he brgs all his nsirable charm and charisma to the role of Simon, a gay Klezmer mician who is offered 10 ln ancs om his tradnalist uncle if he agre to marry a woman.

Is Simon gay, bi, or do he fy such labels?

Is the meang of the film’s tle, explaed at the vibrant Jewish weddg that starts the film, a homophobic nonsense? An attempted kiss at a New Year’s Eve party velops to a passnate romance, but the vlently homophobic and antisemic world of wartime Berl threatens their happs. Paragraph 175 (2000)The Nazi persecutn of homosexuals is seldom explored on film.

Few gay and lbian survivors were alive to tell their stori when Rob Epste and Jefey Friedman ma their important documentary Paragraph 175, whose tle riv om the German act of law prohibg gay sex, which ntued to exist to the 1990s.

Rather than producg a para of cshed victims, the film foregrounds the sharp mentary of Gad Beck, a Jewish gay man who helped refuge pe; the wistful memori of love lost om Hez F., still too guard to reveal his full name; and the undiluted anger of Pierre Seel, who was tortured by Nazi officers. Luckily, Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Wtfeldt, who wrote and star as said let’s-give--a-whirl ‘lbians’, have w and chemistry on their si and create the neart cema has e to a gay Woody Allen movie.

The nflict between homosexualy and Orthodox Judaism has been explored a number of excellent documentari, cludg Tremblg Before G-d (2001), Keep Not Silent (2005) and Jesalem Is Proud to Prent (2008). Yossi (2012)Eytan Fox is one of Israel’s foremost directors, and all of his films foc on gay characters, often g homosexualy to ment on a wir theme, such as self-realisatn Mossad thriller Walk on Water (2004) or the Israeli–Paltian nflict The Bubble (2006).

Where Amos Guttman wallowed the sadns of gay liv, workg as he was an era of fear and prejudice durg the AIDS crisis, Fox’s films are more optimistic and celebratory, if ocsnally btersweet.