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THE ISRAELI FILM FESTIVAL: THE FILMS OF DUKI DROR AIRS ON KLCS-TV


A brand new film series is hitting the airwaves of public television stations nationwide; the Israeli Film Festival on Public Television’s premiere season features the films of filmmaker Duki Dror. KLCS-TV in Los Angeles will be the first to air the three films will air on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. beginning Tuesday, August 17, 2010. The three films are: Raging Dove, The Journey of Vaan Nguyen and My Fantasia. Funding for the preparation of the films for public television was provided by The Israel Film Center at the JCC in Manhattan.

Raging Dove (airs Tuesday, August 17th at 10 p.m.) tells the story of Palestinian-Israeli-American world champion boxer Johar Abu Lashin. Undefeated, he decides to defend his title - first in his hometown of Nazareth, then in Gaza, Palestine - and unwittingly orchestrates his own downfall, as the quagmire of Middle-East politics deals him the fatal blow.

The Journey Of Vaan Nguyen (airs Tuesday, August 24th at 10 p.m.) features the father of five Hebrew-speaking Israeli daughters, Hoiami Nguyen. He never imagined that he would end up so far from his home village of Bong Son in central Vietnam. Political circumstances and the roulette of life have washed him to the shores of Israel. His daughter – Vaan is caught between her wild and stormy Israeli spirit and the expectations to be a modest and obedient Vietnamese at home. Hoiami brings Vaan with him to Vietnam to reclaim the lands of their family, in the remote village at the heart of the Vietnamese jungle.

My Fantasia (airs Tuesday, August 31st at 10 p.m.) is director Duki Dror’s own family story. The three Darwish brothers, who emigrated from Iraq to Israel in the 50’s, established the family factory “Fantasia” - a menorah factory. For a time period of 50 years they designed, manufactured and shipped Chanukah menorahs for the entire world and now…the family factory is about to close down. Duki, who is the son of the youngest brother, is starting to embark on a journey that unravels the history of his family, going back 100 years. The story weaves memories from Iraq and Israel - two homelands, two languages, two identities, two enemies.



Born in Tel Aviv, educated at UCLA and Columbia College in Chicago, Duki Dror has been examining Israeli society, disassembling it with powerful stories triggered by cultural, political and ethnic dilemmas. His films are parables of identity in the 21st century’s merging world. The three films all involve immigration/identity issues, are in various languages and have English subtitles.

The Israeli Film Festival on Public Television (www.israelifilmfestival.tv) was created by founders Cynthia Zeiden, Zeiden Media (www.zeidenmedia.com) and Zygote Films (www.zygotefilms.com). The mission is to bring real stories of Israeli people through the eyes of Israeli filmmakers to American audiences via public television stations to broaden the cultural knowledge they have of Israel and the Israeli people. The initiative includes some live outreach screening events with Duki Dror. A second set of Israeli films will be offered to PTV stations in 2011.