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lifestyle TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2014 Music and Movies Booming Israeli cinema sends 5 films to Cannes ive Israeli films feature at the Cannes directors, and Yedaya’s “That Lovely Girl” Film Festival this year, evidence of an about a 60-year-old man’s incestuous rela- Findustry in bloom because of bigger tionship with his 22-year-old daughter fits budgets and recognition of a growing cine- the bill. Two other Israeli movies feature in matic prowess. Ten years after winning sev- the Cannes Critics’ Week competition. In eral prizes, including the Golden Camera Shira Geffen’s “Self-Made”, a Palestinian and award for “My Treasure”, feminist director an Israeli woman accidentally trade lives Keren Yedaya is back in 2014 with an entry after a mix-up at a checkpoint. The other is in the festival’s Certain Regard section. This “The Kindergarten Teacher” by Nadav Lapid, a closely watched category is for provoca- whose first feature “The Policeman” won the tive films or follow-up works by emerging 2011 Locarno festival and is finally slated for US release in June. The final two Israeli films are being screened in the Directors’ Fortnight category. Ronit Elkabetz co-directs, co-screenwrites with her brother Shlomi and also stars in “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem”. Also showing is “Next to Her” by Asaf Korman, in which a young woman struggles to care for her mentally challenged sister and hold down a job. Critics say the wave of Israeli films selected for international festivals over the past few years is a reflection of better quality production and rising box-office numbers at both home and abroad. “International recognition and the implica- tion of quality that it brings has rocketed Israel’s cinema production to the forefront,” In this June 23, 2010, file photo, Timbaland performs at a graduation party for students at Culver City High School in Culver City, film critic Meir Schnitzer told AFP. Calif. —AP photos ‘Revolution in production quality’ “The miracle of Israeli cinema in the last 10 years isn’t measured just by the number of films or their public reception, but by what has been a revolution in production quality.” Pepsi releases visual album A file picture taken in Cannes shows Over the past decade, four Israeli movies Israeli actress Ronit Elkabetz arriv- have received Oscar nominations for best ing for the screening of “Hors La Loi” foreign film. These were “Beaufort” in 2007 (Outside of the Law). about an Israeli outpost in southern Lebanon, “Waltz With Bashir” (2008), an ani- to celebrate soccer mated thriller in which Israeli soldiers recount their harrowing experiences during epsi is pairing singers and filmmakers to album is another attempt to build its brand with the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, “Ajami” (2009), release a visual album that celebrates soc- major figures without mentioning the event, and “Footnote” (2011). Pcer during World Cup. Spike Lee, Timbaland, which occurs every four years. “To be honest, it’ll Israel’s first Oscar nomination in 1964, Idris Elba and Kelly Rowland are some of the be a great marketing tool for Pepsi,” Lee said. “Sallah”, a warm-hearted satire about waves artists whose work is featured on the Pepsi-curat- “There’s no reason I’d try to deny that.” of immigration to the Jewish state, was fol- ed album, “Beats of the Beautiful Game,” to be Pepsi recently began a campaign that includ- lowed by a string of films in the 1970s which released June 10. The soda company announced ed soccer’s top stars such as Argentinean forward competed in the Academy Awards, although yesterday its album will be a collection of 11 Lionel Messi, English midfielder Jack Wilshere, none won a coveted golden statuette. A sub- anthem-like songs and short films. “What I love Spanish defender Sergio Ramos and Belgian sequent fall-off in Israeli movie production about this is how creative it is,” said Rowland, defender Vincent Kompany. The new album also has since been reversed, and in 2013 a whose song “The Game” will have a video direct- features rising British singer Rita Ora and Elba will record 38 films emerged, including the ed by Lee. “It’s a project with a whole bunch of dif- direct a video for the song “Unstoppable” from acclaimed “Bethlehem” about a Palestinian ferent artists being able to do different songs. I’m the DJ-producer R3hab and singer Eva Simons, boy recruited to spy for the Shin Bet security excited about being a part of something like this.” both Dutch-based acts. The performers are not service. Move-going increased as Israelis’ The Janelle Monae track, “Hero,” is the first sin- expected to appear in the short films, but Lee, - fears of Palestinian militant bombings on the gle and will debut May 20. The album will be who is filming in Brazil promises to include streets, buses and in places of entertainment released through Capitol Music Group’s inde- Rowland somehow. “I love the idea, but I got to lessened with the end of the second pendent label, Caroline. Pepsi is looking to gain sneak a picture in there somewhere,” the director Palestinian intifada or uprising. global attention in a battle with Coca-Cola, which said with a chuckle. “Somewhere she has to In this July 31, 2013, file photo, filmmak- In a population of around 8.2 million, is the main sponsor for the World Cup that kicked appear. She’ll be lip singing, but she’ll be in there. er Spike Lee is interviewed on the floor some 14 million cinema tickets were sold off yesterday in Brazil. The launch of the visual I promise you.” —AP of the New York Stock Exchange. last year, almost double the eight million of 2005, according to leading local film critic Yair Raveh. A record 700,000 of the tickets A file picture taken at the Theatre du sold last year were for domestic produc- Chatelet in Paris shows Israeli film tions. “The crisis in Israeli cinema passed 10 director Ari Folman receiving the years ago,” Raveh said, adding that 2012 Mix of celebrity and art award for best foreign film for drama “Fill The Void” about Tel Aviv’s ultra- “Waltz with Bashir” during the 34th Orthodox Jewish community sold some Cesars French film awards ceremony. 300,000 tickets alone. —AFP set to mingle at Cannes n hour’s drive down the French Riviera from Formula One’s annual Monaco Grand Prix, Athe Cannes Film Festival is arguably its equal as an endurance test, a high-speed frenzy and, yes, a race course with a checkered flag. The obstacles in Cannes are a little different: beige-suited guards who dismiss premiere attendees lacking proper shoes or bowties; hordes of star-gazers amassed outside the seaside luxury hotels; movie audiences with famously fiery tastes that can make or break a film’s debut; and even fellow filmmakers competing for the festival’s prestigious trophy, the Palme d’Or. “I used to race cars and motorcycles,” says direc- tor David Cronenberg. “I’m competitive enough that if you put me on the race track, I’m going to want to win. Sure, I would want to win the Palme d’Or.” Cronenberg, the Canadian maker of horrors like “The Fly” and violent dramas like “Eastern Promises,” is one of 18 filmmakers in competition at Cannes for the Palme d’Or, a prize that will be selected by a jury headed by director Jane Campion. A file picture taken on May 27, 2007 shows Israeli directors Shira Geffen and Yet Cannes, which opens Wednesday with the Etgar Keret posing with their Camera d’Or for best first film prize for their premiere of “Grace of Monaco” with Nicole Kidman, film ‘Meduzot’ during a photocall. —AFP photos is much more than that heightened contest. It’s a Cote d’Azur crush of celebrity; the world’s largest movie marketplace, where countless films are bought and sold; a sprawling cinema event - the Review biggest in the world - that encompasses several sidebar fests; and a promotional palace where movies try to capture international attention. But Dolly Parton delivers its foundation is the movies in competition. This year brings a selection somewhat light on Hollywood and perhaps missing some of the year’s best album in years most anticipated releases (like Paul Thomas olly Parton, at age 68, creates her Anderson’s “Inherent Vice,” due in December). But best album in more than a dozen it’s heavy on world-class auteurs, including Jean- Dyears by returning to the blue- Luc Godard, Ken Loach, the Dardenne brothers, grass-flavored sound that worked so well Mike Leigh and Michel Hazanavicius, returning to for her at the turn of the century. “Blue where his “The Artist” became a sensation. —AP Smoke” succeeds partly because the Country Music Hall of Fame member’s songwriting pen remains sharp. “Unlikely Angel” and the family melodrama “”Miss You-Miss Me” join the three-part harmony of the title cut in adding to Parton’s consid- erable legacy as a songwriter. The emphasis on banjo, fiddle and gospel-style harmony is reminiscent of Britney Spears adds shows 1999’s “The Grass Is Blue,” a Parton career highlight. Her update of the traditional murder ballad “Banks Of The Ohio” fits the bill, too. But Parton expands her musical to Las Vegas residency palette with two risky covers. She gives Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice” a bluegrass treatment, turning Dylan’s bitter sneer into a melancholy farewell. She also trans- aesars Entertainment says Britney Spears is adding more than 30 dates to her Las Vegas residency.