The annual Kolno’ar Youth Film Festival gets underway in Gush Etzion, with the screening of 50 films produced by at-risk youth.
Kolno’ar – a combination of words meaning “Youth Theater” – is a project born of cooperation between the Lahav Association, which utilizes film-making to strengthen weaker societal sectors, and the Education Ministry, the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and Ashalim Association for Children at Risk.
The festival is being held in Efrat, in Gush Etzion. The films, produced by youth from around the country, will be judged by well-known director and producer Mati Menachem Golan, Channel Two reporter and director Sarah Beck (daughter of retired IDF officer and counterterroist activist Meir Indor), and Omri Levi, the academic director of the Maaleh Film School.
At the same time, participants will be offered the opportunity to take part in several workshops and panel discussions on the topics of film-making and working for the community.
“Kolno’ar is an encounter between youth and their films,” the festival is billed, “with the objective of enabling genuine and varied dialogue via the film medium, encouraging young creativity; and revealing the face of society as it is reflected in the eyes of youth.”
The opening film will be, “I am Ready,” of Maaleh graduate Esther Siton. The movie depicts the unique relations between an older man and his Down Syndrome-afflicted son, which deteriorate when the man’s memory begins to betray him. The interruption of the welcome routine forces a painful solution upon the two of them.
The workshops will deal with music in films, costumes, stunts, photography and picture editing, and more. One of the workshops will be led by Shuli Rand, the famous actor, musician, and returnee to observant Judaism who lives in Gush Etzion.
“The creative experience that is formed via the integration of the dramatic tool and the film-making tool is an important aid for youths who have not yet developed their maximum potential,” the organizers further explain. “In the framework of Kolno’ar, the youths are exposed to a contemporary and fascinating resource that enables them to express their world, their dreams, their needs, their way of seeing things, their environment, and their ‘me.’”
Efrat is home to several innovative socially oriented initiatives as well as a variety of cultural activities, thus rendering it a suitable venue for the festival.