Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz was an Israeli Chabad Chasidic rabbi, teacher, philosopher, social critic, author, translator and publisher.
Ger is a Polish Hasidic dynasty originating from the town of Góra Kalwaria, Poland, where it was founded by Yitzchak Meir Alter (1798–1866) known as the "Chiddushei HaRim". Ger is a branch of Peshischa Hasidism, as Yitzchak Meir Alter was a leading disciple of Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765–1827). Before the Holocaust, followers of Ger were estimated to number in excess of 100,000, making it the largest and most influential Hasidic group in Poland. Today, the movement is based in Jerusalem, and its membership is estimated at 11,859 families as of 2016, most of whom live in Israel, making Ger the largest Hasidic dynasty in Israel. However, there are also well-established Ger communities in the United States and in Europe. In 2019, some 300 families of followers led by Shaul Alter, split off from the dynasty led by his cousin Yaakov Aryeh Alter.
Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a town in present-day Ukraine.
Aleksander is a Polish Hasidic dynasty originating from the city of Aleksandrow Lodzki, Poland, where it was founded by Shraga Fayvel Dancyger. Aleksander is a branch of Vurka, as Shraga Fayvel Dancyger was a leading disciple of Rabbi Israel Yitzhak Kalish of Vurka. Prior to the Holocaust, Aleksander was the second to largest Hasidic group in Poland. They attracted artisans, merchants and water carriers rather than elite Talmudic scholars and richer people who were attracted to Ger. Like the rest of Polish Jewry, almost all of Aleksander hasidim were murdered in the Holocaust. Between the world wars, Hasidic Jews from all over flocked to the small village of Aleksander to spend the holiest days of the Jewish year in the presence of their spiritual leader, their rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchak Menachem Dancyger (1879–1942). The Rebbe of Aleksander attempted to remain neutral in political issues while emphasizing communal prayer and the study of Torah. He was murdered by the Germans on September 5, 1942, eight days before Rosh Hashana, at Treblinka extermination camp. Today, Aleksander has emerged from the ashes of the Holocaust and continues growing in numbers in small communities in America, Europe and Israel.
Hana Makhmalbaf is an Iranian filmmaker. She is the younger sister of filmmaker Samira Makhmalbaf and daughter of filmmakers Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Marzieh Makhmalbaf. She is known for her films, Joy of Madness (2003),Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (2007) and Green Days (2009). Makhmalbaf won the Lina Mangiacapre Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2003 for Joy of Madness (2003). Joy of Madness also won the Special Jury Prize at Tokyo Filmex. Makhmalbaf's film Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame won various awards as well, such as the Paolo Ungari UNICEF Prize from the Rome Film Festival and the Peace Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Raphaël Nadjari is a French-Israeli writer and director for film and television.
Slonim is a Hasidic dynasty originating in the town of Slonim, which is now in Belarus. Today, there are two Slonimer factions. Slonim, based in Jerusalem, and the Slanim community in Bnei Brak. They are two distinct groups today, and have many differences between them.
Amos Gitai is an Israeli filmmaker, who was trained as an architect.
Jamshed Usmonov, also credited as Djamshed Usmonov, is a Tajik film director, producer, scriptwriter and one of the most notable figures of contemporary Persian cinema.
Ying Liang is a Chinese independent film director and screenwriter.
The Burnt Theatre, or Les Artistes du Théâtre Brûlé, is a 2005 French-Cambodian docudrama directed and co-written by Rithy Panh. A blend of fact and fiction, based on the actual lives of the actors, the film depicts a troupe of actors and dancers struggling to practise their art in the burned-out shell of Cambodia's former national theatre, the Preah Suramarit National Theatre in Phnom Penh.
Waltz with Bashir is a 2008 Israeli adult animated war documentary drama film written, produced, and directed by Ari Folman. It depicts Folman's search for lost memories of his experience as a soldier during the 1982 Lebanon War.
Shmuel Rozovsky (1913–1979) was a rabbi, best known as a Talmudic lecturer at the Ponevezh Yeshiva located in Bnei Brak, Israel, and was counted amongst the great rabbis of his generation. He was known worldwide for his clarity in explaining complex Talmud topics.
Samuel Maoz is an Israeli film director. His 2009 film, Lebanon won the Golden Lion at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. He also won the award for Best Screenplay for Lebanon at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2010.
Footnote is a 2011 Israeli drama film written and directed by Joseph Cedar, starring Shlomo Bar Aba and Lior Ashkenazi. The plot revolves around the troubled relationship between a father and son who teach at the Talmud department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Rana's Wedding, also known as Jerusalem, Another Day, is a Palestinian film released in 2002, produced in partnership with the Netherlands and funded by the Palestinian Film Foundation. The film was shot in Jerusalem under the direction of the Palestinian Director Hany Abu-Assad, he was the first Palestinian film director to reach Cannes Film Festival with his film, that was selected for screening at the International Critics' Week in 2002. The film was also screened at multiple film festivals worldwide and received many excellent international reviews and awards. Rana's Wedding was able to present the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in an exceptional and compelling way, by using romance and dark comedy genres which left the audience astonished by this unique approach, that was able to portray, a vivid image of a Palestinian's daily struggle, towards living a somewhat normal life.
Ilo Ilo is a 2013 Filipino-Singaporean-Taiwanese drama film. The debut feature of director Anthony Chen, the film features an international cast, including Singaporean actor Chen Tianwen, Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann, Filipino actress Angeli Bayani, and debut of child actor Koh Jia Ler.
Zvi Harry Hurwitz, also known as Harry Zvi Hurwitz, was a noted South African Jewish journalist and community leader who moved to Israel, where he served as an Israeli diplomat and adviser to prime ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir before founding the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.
His Master's Voice is a 2018 Hungarian science fiction film by György Pálfi loosely based on the novel His Master's Voice by Polish science fiction writer Stanisław Lem.
Moriah Films is the Jack and Pearl Resnick Film Division of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
