The Zionist Idea

This startlingly fresh examination of the history of Israel viewed through the evolution of its ideological foundations was written and directed by Joseph Dorman (Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness, SFJFF 2011) and Oren Rudavsky (Hiding and Seeking: Faith and Tolerance After the Holocaust, SFJFF 2003). The documentary states from the outset that it seeks to tell “the story of Zionism as seen through the inhabitants of the land,” that is, both Jewish and Arab, Israeli and Palestinian. Rare and fascinating archival footage complements the film with its riveting interviews of an array of contemporary figures, from historians and politicians to café denizens in Tel Aviv and Ramallah. The Zionist Idea closely examines the roots of Theodore Herzl’s “dream” in 19th-century European romantic nationalism and traces the development of the implications of the Zionist ideal through the early kibbutz movement, to the founding of the state in 1948, the dizzying conquests of 1967 and the present. Dorman and Rudavsky do not shy away from difficult questions, demanding that we confront the reality of competing claims by Jews and Arabs to the same territory and forcing us to examine the long history of often vehement contention among Jews who subscribe fiercely to competing definitions of what it means to be a Zionist.

Joseph Dorman, (Producer/Director/Writer) is a winner of the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence. His latest film, Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness was one of the 2011’s highest grossing documentaries and received 100% positive reviews according to leading industry website Rotten Tomatoes. The New York Times called it “a rich modern history of Eastern European Jewry” and The Washington Post as “superb…like Dorman’s earlier work.” He directed two films for the new Museum of Jewish History and Tolerance Center, which opened in Moscow in 2012. Mr. Dorman also directed the documentary, Arguing the World, about the sixty-¬‐year political journey of the eminent political writers and thinkers, Daniel Bell, Irving Howe, Irving Kristol and Nathan Glazer. The New York Times described it as “enthralling… one of the deepest portraits of… of ideas ever filmed. It was named one of the best films of 1998 by The New York Times, and New York Magazine and was short-listed for an Academy Award. He also co-¬wrote the script of the documentary blockbuster, The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Journey, which was named the best documentary of 2001 by the National Board of Review. Mr. Dorman, who teaches at New York University, was also invited to give Harvard University’s annual William E. Massey Sr. Lecture in the history of American Civilization in 1999., Oren Rudavsky, Producer/Director and Director of Photography, is a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio. He has been producing and directing films since 1980. His first documentaries were made in Ohio and were funded in part by the Ohio Humanities Council and the Ohio Arts Council. The subjects of Mr. Rudavsky's films have ranged from mental illness to race relations, the Amish, Jews in Eastern Europe today, to a portrait of the life of modern day nuns in two communities in the United States. His first documentary, DREAMS SO REAL, a film about three mentally ill men who created their own animated films won first prize at the New England Film Festival in 1981 and was broadcast on WNET’s Independent Focus the following year. Also completed that year was a short autobiographical film, A FILM ABOUT MY HOME, which was broadcast in Independent Focus as well, and was then broadcast as a Special called ARTISTS AND MOTHERS on CBS Cable along with films by the artist Joseph Cornell, and filmmakers Martin Scorcese, Jonas Mekas and Mark Rance. Shortly afterward, Mr. Rudavsky produced GLORIA, A CASE OF ALLEGED POLICE BRUTALITY. Several of Mr. Rudavsky’s films have been broadcast on PBS including SPARK AMONG THE ASHES: A BAR MITZVAH IN POLAND (1987), THEATER OF THE PALMS: THE WORLD OF PUPPET MASTER LEE TIEN LU (1990), and as Director of Photography, THE AMISH: NOT TO BE MODERN in every year from 1986 to the present. (The Amish has been one of the most popular independent documentaries ever broadcast on PBS). SPARK AMONG THE ASHES won many awards including second prize at the Chicago International Film Festival, a Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival and inclusion in the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. AT THE CROSSROADS: JEWISH LIFE IN EASTERN EUROPE TODAY, was broadcast on the Discovery Network. Two other films about Jewish life in America have been nationally broadcast on ABC: RITUAL, a documentary about Jewish ritual incorporating scholarly commentary with portraits of individuals; and an original drama he wrote, SAYING KADDISH, which was nominated for an Emmy in Directing and was rebroadcast on PBS in May of 1993. Other work includes RIDING THE RAILS, a segment about a modern day hobo for ABC's PrimeTime Live, which won a Teddy Award; PICTURE PERFECT, a segment about a small Missouri town also for ABC’s PrimeTime Live; and A DIFFERENT PATH, a one hour documentary about modern day Catholic Sisters for broadcast on ABC in 1996. He was also Director of Photography on the popular MTV series The Real World; TWITCH AND SHOUT, a film about Tourette’s Syndrome which was broadcast on PBS’ POV series; and the award winning THE LAST KLEZMER.