To remember and not to forget - but how to remember? What do survivors who were witnesses at the Adolf Eichmann trial and at-risk youth in Jerusalem have in common? In an unexpected combination of memory and empathy, the two groups in this film reached out to each other to build a sturdy bridge of understanding and respect. As educators and creators, we are constantly looking for new ways to help young people connect with the Holocaust. In the lecture we will touch on these points and watch the Documentary film "The Strength to Tell":
The film follows the experiences of a group of "at risk" Jerusalem teenagers, who as part of  the Martef drama therapy program are asked to interview the last surviving witnesses of the 1961 Eichmann trial, and create a play based on their stories.The young actors and the aging Survivors at first have little in common and show no desire to communicate, but slowly there develops between them a bond of empathy and understanding. A moving film not easily forgotten.

On Memorial Day we pay tribute not only to soldiers who died, but also to the thousands of young combatants who are still haunted by their memories. Maaleh graduate Hagai Adorian served as a combat medic in Operation Protective Edge during the time he was a film student in 2014. In attempting to deal with his  PTSD upon his return, he made two films, one drama and one documentary.

11 MINUTES - A military ambulance is called to evacuate a seriously wounded young soldier and bring him to a helicopter pad where he will be taken to hospital. Aboard the ambulance is a staff of three young soldiers, one of whom is Karen, a young female paramedic on her first tour of duty. Faced with life and death decisions in the ambulance, Karen will either succeed in bringing her emotions and fears under control -- or fail, and be responsible for the death of a fellow soldier.

SHELL - Ariel, a young veteran combat medic, is unable to the dispel terrible images of war that keep replaying themselves in his head. He drives aimlessly around the countryside, eating and sleeping in his banged up car. A film that pays tribute to the subtlety and damage of PTSD without a single shot being fired.

In addition, we will provide a screening of the film "Where To?' It was made in Maaleh's VideoTherapy Center in a workshop for group of bereaved fathers who share a common loss and pain.

Israeli society is a celebration of people of different ethnic groups, backgrounds and beliefs brought together to live out the miracle of the State of Israel.  Cinema offers a wonderful window to the different colors of Israel.  In these films we will look back to the past with respect, and forward to a future that is yet to be built.

THE LITTLE DICTATOR - Yossi Kleinmann, a dull history professor and expert on the political leaders of totalitarian regimes, feels unappreciated both by his students and his domineering wife. One weekend, at the 90th birthday party of his wife’s grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, Yossi finds himself in a surreal situation that forces him to face up to himself and his family.

GIVE IT BACK! - Olivia is a 12 year old immigrant from New York. She is trying to find her place in the new world she just landed in, Israeli society. Instantly she connects with Alem, an Ethiopian boy who sits next to her in class. It doesn't take long for her to realize that their friendship is social suicide.
This is a story about alienation, friendship and home.

SIMPLE THINGS - Raised on a secular Israeli kibbutz, thirty-seven year old Maya is now an ultra-Orthodox Jew, and searches for love the ultra-Orthodox way. A birth coach who has assisted at over 100 births, she has also been set up on over 100 dates by her determined matchmaker. Time goes by, love does not blossom, and the effervescent and optimistic Maya descends into grieving for a future she cannot seem to grasp.

The breakfast Parlament - Every morning, veteran members of Kibbutz Ein Tzurim get together in the empty dining room. Here their "parliament" reverently discusses the inner politics, gossip, and agricultural developments of the kibbutz, as well as the upcoming 60th anniversary celebrations. When the kibbutz votes to stop serving breakfast, the parliament members embark upon a struggle that will bring the kibbutz's entire existence into question

To celebrate Shavuot, the festival commemorating the giving of the Torah, the tradition is to study our sacred texts all night. But the study of Torah must touch on the thorny issues of our times—such as who is considered a member of the Jewish community or who has access to Rabbinic authority.

MUKTZEH - Vladimir, a 35-year-old Russian immigrant, works as a theater lighting technician and dreams of becoming an actor. Before an important audition he meets an old friend who has become religious, and who helps him begin to explore his Jewish identity. Vladimir’s attempts to return to his roots and fulfill his dreams of becoming an actor begin to threaten the one stable element in his life—his relationship with his wife.

THE GRAVEDIGGER'S DAUGHTER - Esther's father was a gravedigger who in his last will and testament left only one significant request: that one of his sons continue with his profession. None of his sons has the slightest interest in doing so. Esther is the only daughter in this traditional 'Sephardic' North African home, and embarks upon a struggle to carry on her father's legacy of humility and kindness over the objections of her family and community. A feminist film with a twist of graveyard humor.

To walk along the golden stones of the Old City of Jerusalem is to travel back in time. Two Maaleh students use two completely different genres, one comedy and one lyric documentary, to connect us with ancient Jerusalem. Can the destroyed Jewish Temple still have meaning for us today?

EICHA - A multiple prizewinner and directed by "Srugim" creator Laizy Shapira, "Eicha" is the story of religious girl whose unusual name, Eicha, (the Hebrew title of the Biblical scroll of Lamentations) causes her angst and embarrassment.  On reaching her 18th birthday, which is also the fast of Tisha B'Av, Eicha decides to formally change her name to try and establish a new identity. But the process turns out to be more complicated than she expected.

WALL, CREVICE, TEAR - A lyrical, poetic look at the women’s section of the Western Wall. Judaism, Christianity, piety and secularism appear at the wall night and day, rain or shine. With a hypnotic and stylized cinematography, the director uncovers moments of passion, yearning, regret and the search for God.

In Jewish tradition, there is no better day than Tu B’Av, the 15th of Av, to celebrate the unique ability of humankind to fall in love. Yet in encountering the unpredictable world of love, we have no choice but to experience both sweetness and loss.

GETTING SERIOUS - A Jerusalem romantic comedy about a moderately orthodox young man who, when he meets the girl of his dreams, pretends to be more religious than he is in order to impress her.

POP 30 - Mika’s boyfriend Nati puts an end to the relationship when Mika proposes marriage. Mika moves back home and becomes addicted to the ATARI video game still sitting in her childhood bedroom. But going back to the past doesn’t heal Mika’s heartache. She will have to find another way of moving on.

In life, we are bound to be hurt and to hurt others. During the period of repentance between Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, we look into our hearts and ask ourselves the hard questions: Whom have we hurt and how can we make amends? Who has hurt us and how do we forgive?

A PURE PRAYER - It is nearly Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), and the synagogue is still short of a tenth man to make up the quorum for communal prayer.  Schwartzman has no idea what to do.  Rosa, his wife, has a solution - to bring Menachem, their special needs son, to the synagogue.  Menachem is 30, but he has never taken part in communal prayers.

71 SQUARE METERS - Sometimes you have to leave in order to come back. You have to forget in order to remember.  Chezi goes to his deceased parents' house the day before the bulldozers will raze it to the ground.  It is the last 24 hours: 24 hours to remember his mother, his father, Bjorn Borg, an old Mezuza.