2022 Boston Israeli Film Festival – March 24-30, 2022
פסטיבל הסרטים הישראלי בבוסטון
2022 Boston Israeli Film Festival – Guests
Daniel Agranov, Guest Introduction, Dead Sea Guardians
Daniel Agranov, the Deputy Consul General of Israel to New England, has more than a decade of experience in Foreign Service. He has been a member of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2008. He previously served in embassies and consulates in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
In his first diplomatic posting in the United States, Daniel served as the Deputy Consul General of Israel at the Consulate in Houston (2014). After his successful tenure in the United States, Daniel moved back to Israel where he was appointed to serve at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Department for Combating Antisemitism and Holocaust Remembrance (2017).
Agranov was born in Leningrad, USSR and made Aliya with his family to Israel at the age of eleven. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Biology and a Master’s in Business Administration in Finance and Marketing, both from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Agranov is married to Nurit and together they have three daughters and two sons.
Rabbi Marc Baker, Guest Introduction, Dead Sea Guardians
Rabbi Marc Baker, CJP’s President and CEO, has spent most of his life in Greater Boston’s Jewish community. An organizational leader and educator, Marc served as Head of School at Gann Academy, Greater Boston’s pluralistic Jewish high school, for 11 years prior to joining CJP. A native of Lynnfield, MA Marc was active in the JCC and at Camp Bauercrest throughout his childhood. He lived in Jerusalem for four years, studying at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and The Hebrew University. Marc regularly speaks, writes, and teaches about Judaism, the Jewish community, and leadership. He served as scholar-in-residence for CJP’s Cynthia and Leon Shulman Acharai Leadership Program from 2013-2018. Marc attended Phillips Academy Andover and received his bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Yale University. He lives in Brookline with his wife, Jill, and their four children.
Tom Cohen, Film subject, That Orchestra With the Broken Instruments
Tom Cohen is internationally recognized for fusing musical styles from East and West to create Levant Music – a new musical language.
Classically trained and steeped in the music of North Africa and Arab countries, Cohen combines Western musicians and Arabic instrument virtuosi to bring Levant Music to orchestras and ensembles as diverse as The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and the orchestras he’s founded in Israel, Morocco, Belgium and Canada.
As the founder, arranger, chief conductor and musical director of The Jerusalem Orchestra East & West he has presented the orchestra not only in its home city of Jerusalem but also across the Middle East. Cohen also founded the Symphonyat Orchestra in Morocco which combines Jewish and Muslim players to huge success.
Much in demand as an artistic director and programmer, Cohen is the artistic director of Arabesque, Akko’s international Arabic music festival held every August. As well as creating arrangements for his various orchestras, Cohen is also a composer of film and TV music and has worked on some of the most successful tv shows in Israel.
Astar Elkayam, Director/Writer/Editor, Two
Astar Elkayam is an Israeli filmmaker. She has a BA in Film and television from Bar Ilan University (2009).She is the scriptwriter, director and editor of Two, her debut narrative feature which earned a nomination at the 2020 Ophir Awards (the Israeli Oscar’s).
The film was also nominated for Best Film at ‘sunny bunny’ competition at 2021 Kyiv’s Molodist International Film Festival. Two was the opening film of TLVfest; the leading actors won together an honorable mention for their acting in the film.Astar has also directed TV dramas in Israel, Shilton Hatzlalim and Galis. She directed and edited the viral video clip Prayer of the Mothers. She wrote and directed a satirical play that participated in Tel Aviv’sTzavta festival Tel Aviv.
She is currently developing her second narrative script – granted by the Israel Film Fund.
Yuval Hameiri, Director, That Orchestra With the Broken Instruments
Born in Haifa, Yuval Hameiri is a multidisciplinary artist working in film, theatre, and performance.
His works combine object-theatre with documentary cinema, stage with screen, humor with pain. His art seeks after the poetics of everyday life and the relationship between matter and meaning.
Hameiri Studied film at Tel Aviv University, the Sam Spiegel School of Film in Jerusalem and in the Art Midrasha in Beit Berel.
His short film I Think This is the Closest to How the Footage Looked was awarded Best Short Non-Fiction prize at Sundance Film Festival in 2012.
That Orchestra with the Broken Instruments, premiered at DocAviv
Film Festival and was nominated for the Documentary Forum Award.
Idit Klein, Guest Introduction, Two
ldit is a national leader for social justice with more than 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Since 2001, she has served as the leader of Keshet, the national organization for LGBTQ equality in Jewish life. ldit built Keshet from a local organization with an annual budget of $42,000 to a national organization with an annual budget of nearly $4 million. Under her leadership, Keshet has supported tens of thousands of rabbis, educators, and other Jewish leaders to make LGBTQ equality a communal value and imperative. ldit also spearheaded the creation of leadership development programs for queer Jewish teens and mobilized Jewish communities to help defeat a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and advance transgender rights in Massachusetts. In addition, she served as the Executive Producer of Keshet’s documentary film, “Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School.”
Prior to leading Keshet, ldit worked in Jerusalem for Israeli-Palestinian peace and helped envision the Jerusalem Open House as a leader in the Israeli LGBTQ rights movement. A magna cum laude graduate of Yale University, ldit earned her Master’s in Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a focus on social justice and anti-oppression education. She serves on the advisory board of the Safety Respect Equity Coalition and the leadership team of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable to strengthen the national Jewish social justice movement. ldit was honored by the Jewish Women’s Archive with a Women Who Dared award as well as by Jewish Women International with a Women to Watch award, and selected for the Forward 50, a list of American Jews who have made enduring contributions to public life. She lives in Boston with her family.
Eran Kolirin, Director/Writer, Let It Be Morning
Eran Kolirin was born in 1973. His feature film debut as a director, The Band’s Visit, won him critical acclaim and over 50 prestigious awards around the globe, among them 8 Ophir Awards of the Israeli Film Academy, the Un Certain Regard Jury Coup de Cœur Award in Cannes 2007 and the European Film Discovery Award.
His second feature film, The Exchange, was selected for the 68th Venice Competition and received several prizes worldwide including the FIPRESCI Prize at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
His third film, Beyond the Mountains and Hills, premiered at Cannes Un Certain Regard 2016 and was released to critical acclaim.
Dr. David Lehrer, Speaker, Dead Sea Guardians
Dr. Lehrer holds a Doctorate from the Geography and Environmental Development Department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a joint Masters Degree in Management Science from Boston University and Ben-Gurion University. Dr. Lehrer was the Executive Director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies from 2001 until August 2021 and has now become Director of International Development. Mr. Lehrer has been a member of Kibbutz Ketura since 1981; worked in agriculture and education; served as the General Secretary and Business Manager, and twice served as an emissary for the Jewish Agency of Israel in the US. Dr. Lehrer’s research includes studies on the effectiveness of the ISO 14001 environmental management system, sustainable development in the Dead Sea Basin and the cost of nature conservation in Israel. Dr. Lehrer is currently on Sabbatical, lecturing at Boston University.
Dr. Lehrer moved to Israel in 1978 and has been a member of Kibbutz Ketura, a rural cooperative, since 1981. He is married to Barbara Pinsker and they have three daughters, Avigail, Ariana, and Meital.
Libby Lenkinski, Speaker, Let It Be Morning
Libby is the Vice President for Public Engagement at the New Israel Fund, where she leads all aspects of NIF’s public efforts in the United States. She also leads NIF’s work related to arts and culture for social change, in partnership with Nathan Cummings Foundation. Prior to joining NIF, Libby lived and worked in the Israeli non-profit field for almost a decade for human rights organizations like ACRI, Yesh Din and Physicians for Human Rights, for documentary films including Budrus and The Law in These Parts, new media initiatives like +972 Magazine, and for progressive political campaigns. Libby is based in Brooklyn and travels to Israel-Palestine frequently.
Miriam May, Speaker, Dead Sea Guardians (In-person)
Miriam May is CEO of the Friends of Arava Institute. The Arava Institute is a prestigious Israeli academic program that empowers its students to lead both the Middle East and the world in solving today’s most pressing environmental challenges and addresses cross-border environmental solution. She founded and led SMART Consulting, providing marketing and outreach services to major nonprofits and financial institutions. Before joining the Arava Institute Miriam worked at Harvard as Hillel Outreach Director and Managing Director of Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Program. Previously, she was a senior vice president of United Way of Southeastern New England, a Vice President at Citibank, a World Bank consultant to Brazil’s Ministry of Labor, and Area Advisor for the U.S. Department of Labor. She is married to Prof. Shaye Cohen and they have four grown children.
Jordan Namerow, Moderator, Two
Jordan Namerow is a writer, communications professional, and facilitator. With more than 15 years of experience in the nonprofit industry, she is passionate about helping teams and leaders deepen their impact at the nexus of storytelling and social change. Much of her work centers on helping women, girls, and LGBTQ people elevate their voices and claim their power to make the world more equitable for everyone. A graduate of Wellesley College and Columbia University, and a 2017-2019 Schusterman Fellow, Jordan currently serves on the board of Mayyim Hayyim. She lives in Boston with her wife, their son, and dog.
Mor Polanuer, Actor, Two
Mor Polanuer is an Israeli actress, singer and dancer. She played supporting roles in the acclaimed narrative films A Place in Heaven by director Yossi Madmoni and Kimat Mefursemet by director Marco Carmel. She was a recurring Guest Star at the TV hit show Tyrant. Mor is a former dancer at the Mayumana company, She made the choreography for the film Two.
Orit Fouks Rotem, Director, Cinema Sabaya
Orit was born in Israel in 1983. She graduated from the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel School with honors in 2012, winning her class’ ‘Promising Director’ Award. Her diploma film Staring Match was screened in festivals all over the world, including: San Sebastian, Montreal, Munich and won the Grand Prix award at the Hangzhao Festival in China, Best Screenplay Award at Tel Aviv Student Film Festival, and an Honorable Mention at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
After graduating, Orit co-directed a documentary series for the Israeli Channel YES Doco; worked as a film facilitator and director for Israeli NGO, making films with at-risk youth; worked as a filmmaking teacher of groups of women in Acres and Givat Haviva. She also conducted research for a documentary by the Oscar-award-winning director Alex Gibney, and wrote and directed two short fiction films – You Remain Silent that was a part of the Abraham Heffner tribute “Voice Over” and premiered in Sarajevo and Jerusalem Film Festival 2018, and Veil that is currently in its festivals round. Cinema Sabaya is Orit’s debut feature film.
Nahanni Rous, Moderator, Cinema Sabaya
Nahanni Rous (she/her) is the Host and Senior Producer of Can We Talk?, the podcast of the Jewish Women’s Archive, which explores the intersection of gender, history and Jewishness. She also produces Those Who Were There, Voices from the Holocaust, a podcast drawn from the recorded testimonies at Yale’s Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. She has been Senior Producer of Making Gay History, a podcast based on Eric Marcus’s decades-old audio archive of interviews with LGBTQ activists, and was a founding staff member of the media organization Just Vision, and a producer of Just Vision’s documentary film Encounter Point, which followed several Israelis and Palestinians in their peacebuilding and nonviolent endeavors.
Agam Schuster, Actor, Two
Agam Schutesr is an Israeli Actress and a director. She played a leading role at the Israeli hit show Your Honor. She also played in Deep the Water, HBO’s Our Boys, Last Night and more. She received two nominations at The Israeli Theater Awards for acting roles in her work in Israeli plays.
She is currently developing a TV series called Lily’s House.
Nadav Tamir, Speaker, Apples & Oranges
Nadav Tamir is the Executive Director of J Street Israel and an Advisor for International and Governmental Affairs at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation.
Nadav was born and raised on Kibbutz Manara in northern Israel. He began his career in public service in 1980 in the IDF, where he eventually served as a company commander and retired with the rank of Major.
Nadav had the privilege to serve as a policy assistant under three Foreign Ministers – Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak, and David Levy. He was then promoted to the position of Political Officer at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1997.
In 2010, he returned to Israel after serving as the Consul General of Israel to New England at the Consulate General of Israel in Boston for four years. He then served at the Policy Planning unit of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs until July 2011 when he joined the President’s Office.
He is married to Dr. Ronit Tamir, a dance educator, and is the father of Maya, Ido, and Naama.
