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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/41536/full/41536/cjm-premiering-student-filmmakers-shorts-on-israel/ <br /><br /> <b>CJM premiering student filmmakers’ shorts on Israel</b> <br /> Thursday, March 4, 2010 | by dan pine <br /><br /><p>Tourists often tote a video camera around during visits to Israel. But few have their footage later shown on the big screen at a formal movie premiere.</p> <p>That’s what 18 local Jewish teens have in store when Write On for Israel presents “Israel Through the Eyes of American Teens.” The student filmmakers get the red-carpet treatment March 14 at San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum, with the premiere of their handmade short documentaries.</p> <p> <div class="capDivLeft" style="width: 360px;"><img alt="Astudent films2" class="left" height="250" src="http://www.jweekly.com/images/uploads/y_photos_2010/zp03_05_10/Astudent films2.jpg" title="WOFI students Nina Bokhoor (left) and Jessica Saldinger climb at a park in Tel Aviv. photo/dan pine" width="360" /> <div class="caption">WOFI students Nina Bokhoor (left) and Jessica Saldinger climb at a park in Tel Aviv. photo/dan pine</div> </div> Write On for Israel is a national two-year pro-Israel advocacy program funded by the Avi Chai Foundation, and managed locally by BlueStar PR. Participants study journalism and Jewish history for six months before embarking on a 10-day trip to Israel. The program, including the Israel trip, is free.</p> <p>The 18 students in the first Bay Area cohort will “graduate” from WOFI with the public screenings. Topics include the Israeli army, gay and lesbian life, Israeli teens and Tel Aviv.</p> <p>“I never had any experience making a film before,” says Jessica Saldinger, 18, of Pleasanton. “I didn’t think I would be able to, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well the film turned out. It was definitely a learning experience.”</p> <p>Saldinger, along with her co-filmmakers Nina Bokhoor and Sarah Hershon, chose kibbutz life as the subject of their seven-minute documentary. While in Israel last July, the three visited Kibbutz Merom HaGolan in the Golan Heights, where they interviewed residents about their lives.</p> <p>“We wanted to show audiences that</p> <p>didn’t know much about kibbutzim another side of Israel that’s not about violence and conflict,” Saldinger says. “We wanted to showcase this beautiful way of living, and show how modern influences have led to kibbutzim being less pure than what they were.”</p> <p>Ava Feldman, along with Sarah Doyle and Samantha Abernathy, created a documentary about Israeli music. Like budding E! Channel reporters, they snagged interviews with top stars like Ivri Lider and Idan Raichel to lace into their film.</p> <p>“The shooting was really exciting,” says Feldman, 18, of Walnut Creek. “None of us had been to Israel before, so the trip was meaningful for all of us. Interviewing Ivri Lider was an amazing experience. It was a fantastic interview and we felt so great about it.”</p> <p>None of the students had any filmmaking experience. For help, they turned to Ryan Stouffer, who serves as the WOFI adviser on the art of documentary filmmaking.</p> <p>Meeting with the small groups over the last four months, Stouffer says time constraints did not allow him to teach the students everything about the mechanics of filmmaking. He took on most of the technical duties, leaving the creativity to the kids.</p> <p>More than anything, Stouffer tried to impress on them that something had to be on screen every second. So if an interview subject referred to, say, the beaches of Tel Aviv, it might be a good idea to show the beaches.</p> <p>“They put their hearts into it,” he says. “Having never done documentaries before, they ran into issues of not knowing where to go, but when we met in groups they were very responsive. They did good work on their own coming up with coherent stories.”</p> <p>Though they first met as high school juniors, the WOFI students will graduate in June, with college coming up fast. By then, they will be more prepared to stand up for Israel, thanks in part to their experience with the program.</p> <p>“This is the first time many of us have ever worked on a project like this and we’re ready to see everyone’s films,” Feldman says. “But it’s also bittersweet. We have become pretty close and it’s sad to think that most of us are graduating and will be on opposite sides of the country very soon. Most of us are going to miss our Sunday morning meetings, eating bagels and catching up with everyone.”</p> <p><br /><strong>“Israel Through the Eyes of American Teens” </strong>takes place 2 p.m. March 14 at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission St., S.F. Free. Information: <a href="http://www.thecjm.org">http://www.thecjm.org</a>.</p> <p><strong><br />Dan Pine</strong> is the journalism teacher for Write On for Israel.</p>

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