FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3
Attend the first Jerusalem concert by Nazareth-born singer Sama Choufani at Feel Beit (4 Naomi St.) and enjoy an after-party with DJ Nizar. NIS 80 per ticket; the after-party is NIS 30. Visit the English website: tzkrti.com/en/events/950 to book.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Watch the 2022 film Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Spanish and English, with Hebrew subtitles) at the Jerusalem Cinematheque at 8:30 p.m. as it kicks off a series of films honoring director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (2014’s Birdman, 2015’s The Revenant). In this film, a famous documentary filmmaker (Daniel Giménez Cacho) returns to his native Mexico from Los Angeles, and a visually stunning epic quest unfolds.
Those who enjoy Mexican culture might want to return to the Cinematheque to see Amores Perros (Sunday, February 5; 8:30 p.m.); 21 Grams (Monday, February 6; 9 p.m.); Babel (Tuesday, February 7; 8:45 p.m.); Biutiful (Wednesday, February 8; 6 p.m.) and Birdman (Thursday, February 9; 9 p.m.).
Film buffs would enjoy the last movie, as the way the fictional superhero Birdman taunts the protagonist (Michael Keaton) harks back to Keaton’s iconic role as Batman in the 1989 Tim Burton adaptation.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5
Whet your appetite for opera ahead of next week’s live streaming of La Traviata at the Jerusalem Cinematheque by tuning to What’s Up with the Opera podcast by Rebecca Hass. Enjoy a two-part interview with Anne Midgette, former opera critic for The Washington Post, who discusses her book on piano-builder, composer and educator Nannette Streicher. Link: pacificopera.ca/event/whats-up-with-opera/
Midgette offers a wide view of the opera, noting that during a March performance of Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met, a man shocked the audience when he screamed to soprano Brenda Rae that she allegedly “has no technique.”
Seen as a shocking violation of opera norms, Midgette suggests that heckling is simply daring to have an opinion and that such cries were very much within the opera norm for most of the art form’s history.
If you wish, you too can heckle the performers during the Met’s upcoming La Traviata performance (Saturday, February 11; 7 p.m.). The performers won’t mind because they won’t hear it – the performance is streamed. Your fellow opera-goers might have a different view, though.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6
Watch the Gesher theater adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption (1994 film directed by Drank Darabont, based on the same-titled 1982 novella by Stephen King) at the Jerusalem Theatre (20 Marcus St.) at 8:30 p.m. Shown in Hebrew with Russian and Hebrew subtitles; the English subtitles will be provided for the following performance on Tuesday, February 7 at8:30 p.m.
The role of Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins in the film, is performed here by Ori Yaniv as the inmate who must come to terms with prison life. The role of Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, performed by Morgan Freeman in the film, is brought to the Israeli stage by Yuval Yanai.
The show includes one intermission and is roughly two hours and 15 minutes. Theater lovers might like to note that this is the second massive hit produced for the Israeli stage by works penned by the horror wizard from Maine; The Green Mile at the Beersheba Theater was well received by audiences in 2016.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7
Watch the 2017 documentary film The Sign for Love at a free online screening, followed by a discussion with El Ad Cohen and Iris Ben Moshe, who co-directed it (8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively). This is the first documentary made by a deaf person; much of the dialog uses Israeli sign language (Hebrew subtitles are provided).
The film is about a deaf person who wants to be a father. The panel discussion will include a live translation in sign language for the deaf community. Admission is free with pre-registration here: yonatannir.com/love .
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8
Visit Sira pub (4 Ben Sira St.) between 4 p.m. and 3 a.m. to enjoy a drink ahead of the upcoming weekend and learn about their lineup of bands.
You can listen to examples of the live music on offer by checking the Sira Tapes: shorturl.at/fuzAV. If you enjoy such pubs, check out Cactus9 (4 Shushan St.) between 7 p.m. and 4 a.m. the next day. They also have a Mixcloud worth listening to at: shorturl.at/glZ89.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9
Attend a concert by rapper Teddy Neguse at the Yellow Submarine (13 Harekavim St.) at 10 p.m. (Standing-only performance, NIS 90 per ticket). Neguse is one of the most interesting rappers on the Israeli scene today. Call (02) 679-4040 to book. Readers can enjoy his music online via: soundcloud.com/teddy-negusa .
Throwing a special party? Opening an art exhibition or a new bar? Bringing in a guest speaker to introduce a fascinating topic? Drop me a line at hagay_hacohen@yahoo.com and let In Jerusalem know about it. Send emails with “Jerusalem Highlights” in the subject line. Although all information is welcome, we cannot guarantee it will be featured in the column.
