What can film teach us about Israeli society and its diversity? How does it position different cultural communities within Israel and the global context? We delve into these questions with Professor Naomi Brenner for a fascinating discussion. The evolution of demographics in Israel/Palestine from the late 19th century until today has a fascinating story within the realm of film and other media. Israeli film, in particular, shows the impact of immigration on Israeli society. One million people emigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1990s for example, and among Israel’s Jewish population fully half claim origins in Muslim majority countries. Films about Israel were historically made from a Jewish Israeli standpoint but films made by both Palestinian and Jewish directors became increasingly more common in the 20th century. Representations of Palestinians in those films were diverse, made by Jewish Israelis, Palestinians, and Palestinian citizens of Israel. Israeli films by directors from a variety of ethnic backgrounds are now being produced, and students in her classes discuss the issues related to identity and whether or not it matters if a director comes from the same ethnic background as the ethnic community he or she is portraying. Dr. Brenner makes a number of film recommendations. Please check the whole podcast out to hear them.
Courses she teaches:
Israeli Film and Society (asynchronous and online)
Stories of the Middle East and South Asia (co-taught with Professor Ila Nagar)
Israeli Culture
Courses on the Bible
Projects:
She’s looking at the politics of gender in “trashy” Hebrew novels and other types of stories from the mid 19th Century to the mid-Twentieth Century