Events

Ada Karmi-Melamede is one of the most accomplished female architects in the world but little is known about her outside of Israel as she shies away from most press and publicity.
This film introduces us to a remarkable and reluctant protagonist through the lens of her filmmaker daughter, a former architect. 
Ada provides an unusually evocative perspective on place and country, as someone working towards improving the public sphere while that sphere deteriorates and becomes increasingly fraught. As so many are shaken by the fragility of the democracies we call home, Ada gives us ways to think about what we can aspire to in our personal and public lives, and the spaces and places in between.

Director: Yael Melamed

Israel 2024 | 82 minutes | Hebrew, English | Hebrew subtitles

StageTalk Following the screening, a conversation with the film director Yael Melamed 

On stage, a fine ensemble that includes Chava, Eran Weitz (guitars and musical producer) and two outstanding new members, Maya Belsitzman (cello and vocals) and Matan Efrat (percussion and computer). 

The new ensemble paints the songs with sound and other colors, like scenes in the cinema. Songs that have not yet been performed on stage alongside those that have. A gentle acrobatic meander connects the pieces in Alberstein’s rich repertoire of over sixty albums and hundreds of songs. Side by side, weaving songs from then and now, about this country and faraway places, about the personal and the collective, together transforming the evening into one living Tapestry.

“The new show by Chava Alberstein is a rare experience. A one-of-a-kind evening that the intelligent singer cleverly weaves, with her excellent ensemble, among the old.” Amir Schwartz, Ynet
 

The Iranian poet and author in exile, Fatemeh Ekhtesari, will be hosted at the Weizmann Institute of Science. 

In 2015, Ekhtesari was sentenced to 11.5 years in prison and 99 lashes after being accused of censorship violations in her poetry. She managed to escape Iran and now resides in Norway. Ekhtesari has published ten books, including poetry collections, short stories, and multi-genre works. Her poems have been translated into various languages and have even been adapted into musical pieces.

She is visiting Israel to work on a dance and poetry project in collaboration with Israeli choreographer Inbal Oshman.
The evening will feature a discussion of her poetry, a glimpse into a creative process in progress, and a joint conversation with Ekhtesari, Oshman, and author Yannets Levi, who serves as the translator and dramaturge for the project. 

The conversation will delve into topics such as modern Persian poetry, the spirit of freedom, life under overt and covert censorship, experiences of migration, alienation and belonging, and the connection between poetry and dance. Additionally, there will be a live demonstration from the ongoing creative process.