|
Written by Esther
|
|
When you first meet her, you might not know it, but ROIer Hannah Janal walks with Israeli cultural royalty.
From working with Ivri Lider to promote his new album in English, due in the coming year, Janal has progressed--through gumption, persistence and hard work--to a position as assistant producer on what will likely be one of the most anticipated films in the Jewish community over the next few years.
In an ROI exclusive, Janal shared with us the inside scoop on an upcoming film project that will be of interest to anyone involved or interested in young Jewish identity today. An American-Israeli co-production between American producer Zvi Howard Rosenman (Father of the Bride, A Stranger Among Us) and internationally acclaimed Israeli writer/director Eytan Fox (The Bubble, Walk on Water, Yossi and Jagger), the film will be a fictional account of a busload of Taglit-Birthright Israel participants. Janal, an assistant producer on the project, intends to apply for an ROI Grant in September to assist in creating this film, and felt strongly that she wanted to give ROI the exclusive on the story.
"It'll be 40 Americans on a bus, with all the drama of Jewish identity," Janal said over club soda at a Tel Aviv bar in August. "The main character will be on a journey, coming to terms with Jewish identity and cultural relationships." The screenwriter will be American, and in preparation for creating such a film, the producers plan to send Fox and the core team on a Birthright bus to experience it firsthand. "Eytan has had tremendous crossover success" into the American market, Janal notes, calling him one of today's best-known Israeli filmmakers, and as such, the ideal choice to create this film for both American and Israeli audiences.
Janal always wanted to make movies. And noting the widespread envy of Birthright that other cultures are experiencing, she has a feeling that a story about a bus of young adults experiencing Israel will have wide appeal.
"Birthright for me was an exceptional experience. For me, projects have to express diversity: Birthright embodies that experience of many different types of people bonding over the mutual, shared space of being Jewish." She calls her current position "serendipitous," and counts working with Fox as a major blessing. "You spend five minutes in a room with Eytan and you're inspired," she says.
"Israeli films are important for people who have never been to the country. They're multicultural, which is an important side to show the world. I gravitate to film; that's my platform for expressing challenges, and working through my own questions constantly. Israel is a Jewish state, but you look around, and it's not a monotone. There's room for growth and diversity."
As for Ivri Lider fans, they can take comfort in the fact that Fox often includes Lider's music in his films (we have no confirmation that this will be the case for the Birthright film). But those who can't wait two years for the film to be released can look forward to September, when Lider's new Hebrew album drops, and then he'll begin working on his first English-language album, due for release in 2009.
|
