A Lesbian and Her Calf, Ethiopian Teens in Love, and a Depressed Chassid Say Hello at the Israel Film Center Festival

Ethiopian Jews in love in Aalam-Warqe Davidian’s Fig Tree

You might not know it but we’re in the midst of the seventh year of the Israel Film Center Festival. (It runs until June 12th.) The Center’s goal obviously is to promote Israeli films year-round, showcasing offerings both new and some not so new. Based at the Marlene Meyerson JCC on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, there’s also a streaming site, so even if you‘re living’ in Omaha, you don’t have to miss out.

(And if you are in Omaha, immediately catch up on Haim Tabakman’s tale of Orthodox men in love, Eyes Wide Open (2008); the wry comedy TV series Arab Labor; and Amos Gitai’s riveting look at the plight of Orthodox Jewish women forced into and out of marriage, Kadosh (1999).)

Moving to the present, there’s the imploding universes explored in three of the current fest’s highlights with their engaging dramatis personae, most of whom are bathed in a sort of existentialist miserabilism.

Avigayil Koevary as Benny in Tisivia Barkai Yacov’s Red Cow.

In Tisivia Barkai Yacov’s Red Cow, 17-year-old Benny (Avigayil Koevary) with her ginger locks is not unlike the holier-than-holy calf that her devout…