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This year, celebrate Israel cinematically with ‘Nicolai,’ others
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By Cynthia Dettelbach
Editor
When Israeli filmmaker David Ofek titles his prizewinning documentary “The Tale of Nicolai and the Law of Return,” the word “tale” should give us pause. We associate “tales” with literary endeavors – The Canterbury Tales; A Tale of Two Cities – essentially works of fiction. But a documentary purports to be fact.
In fact, “The Tale of Nicolai and the Law of Return” skirts a little of both worlds ... which only enhances the story it tells. (“The Tale” is one of nine free films being shown in Cleveland from April 25 to May 4. See accompanying boxes.)
Nicolai is a real person and a “reel” person as well, but more about the latter later. He is a diligent worker in a Romanian factory, but when communism falls, the factory closes, and Nicolai, along with his co-workers, is suddenly unemployed.
Some men travel to Spain or Italy seeking work, but they admit to Nicolai they are unhappy there. Nicolai chooses instead to go to Israel. He reports to his buddies that Israel is a “civilized” place, where supermarket doors open automatically and in place of paper towels in public bathrooms, there’s “hot air to dry your hands.”
Starting on this light note, we then “reset” to the beginning of Nicolai’s journey to the Jewish state. First, there is the painful parting from his pregnant wife and their young son. Next we learn that Nicolai, along with other workers from Moldova and Romania, has agreed to do heavy construction work for a shady organization called Manpower Group. Manpower places them in substandard housing and also siphons off an unconscionably large part of their wages.
Welcome to the seamier side of Israeli life, certainly for foreign workers.
For three years Nicolai labors under these arduous conditions, sending whatever money he can save back home to Romania. Meanwhile, tearful phone calls from a public phone booth and an occasional visit are his only touchstones with family.
Then a fellow construction worker’s offhand remark – that Jews from anywhere can immigrate to Israel and be accepted as citizens, officially known as the Law of Return – begins to change Nicolai’s luck.
His maternal grandmother, he recalls, was born a Jew. That means, according to Jewish law, that Nicolai is a Jew and that he and his Christian wife and children are entitled to become Israeli citizens.
The problem is proving his grandmother’s Jewishness in a country (Romania) where the recording of one’s religion is at best a haphazard occurence. Nor does it help that Israel is a stickler for definitive proof, which must come from the maternal side of the family.
The filmmaker follows Nicolai’s persistent wife as she practically jumps through hoops to acquire the documents stating the magic words “Religion: Jewish.”
Eighteen harrowing months later, everything is finally in place. As an Israeli administrator wryly observes of Nicolai, who at this point is clueless about Jewish rituals or observance, “He forgot Judaism and Judaism forgot him.” In one touching scene, Nicolai and his family gamely attend an “alien” to them Chanukah celebration to which they’ve been invited.
When the family immigrates to Israel, this time as citizens, the Israeli government kicks in with a generous market basket of perks; these include cash, stipends, and free Hebrew lessons and training courses.
While the family’s path to assimilation isn’t exactly smooth and both Nicolai and his wife, who cleans houses, work very hard, they are well on the way to their Israeli dream. (Think car and, maybe someday, a house.)
Finally, the literary or “reel” part of this generally upbeat documentary is that it doesn’t take place in real time. When filmmaker Ofek meets Nicolai (and how he does so is revealed only at the end), Nicolai and his family are already settled in Israel. So Ofek has Nicolai and everyone else play themselves in a recreation of their story. And thereby hangs the “tale.”
“The Tale of Nicolai and the Law of Return” is just one of many films being presented at The Reel Israel: Films & Conversations, a weeklong look at documentary films from Israel. It is part of the free, community-wide celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) and Tel Aviv’s 100th birthday. Check the CJN’s City Beat each week for details.
This year, celebrate Israel cinematically! Dip into the many facets of the Jewish state’s life and people as seen through the cameras of a host of talented Israeli filmmakers.
cdettelbach@cjn.org
WHAT: The Reel Israel: Film & Conversations
WHEN: April 25-May 4
WHERE: Various venues around town
COST: Free
WHAT: “The Tale of Nicolai and the Law of Return.”
WHEN: Wed., April 29, at noon
WHERE: Idea Center at Playhouse Square
and
WHEN: Fri., May 1, at noon
WHERE: Siegal College
In fact, “The Tale of Nicolai and the Law of Return” skirts a little of both worlds ... which only enhances the story it tells. (“The Tale” is one of nine free films being shown in Cleveland from April 25 to May 4. See accompanying boxes.)
Nicolai is a real person and a “reel” person as well, but more about the latter later. He is a diligent worker in a Romanian factory, but when communism falls, the factory closes, and Nicolai, along with his co-workers, is suddenly unemployed.
Some men travel to Spain or Italy seeking work, but they admit to Nicolai they are unhappy there. Nicolai chooses instead to go to Israel. He reports to his buddies that Israel is a “civilized” place, where supermarket doors open automatically and in place of paper towels in public bathrooms, there’s “hot air to dry your hands.”
Starting on this light note, we then “reset” to the beginning of Nicolai’s journey to the Jewish state. First, there is the painful parting from his pregnant wife and their young son. Next we learn that Nicolai, along with other workers from Moldova and Romania, has agreed to do heavy construction work for a shady organization called Manpower Group. Manpower places them in substandard housing and also siphons off an unconscionably large part of their wages.
Welcome to the seamier side of Israeli life, certainly for foreign workers.
For three years Nicolai labors under these arduous conditions, sending whatever money he can save back home to Romania. Meanwhile, tearful phone calls from a public phone booth and an occasional visit are his only touchstones with family.
Then a fellow construction worker’s offhand remark – that Jews from anywhere can immigrate to Israel and be accepted as citizens, officially known as the Law of Return – begins to change Nicolai’s luck.
His maternal grandmother, he recalls, was born a Jew. That means, according to Jewish law, that Nicolai is a Jew and that he and his Christian wife and children are entitled to become Israeli citizens.
The problem is proving his grandmother’s Jewishness in a country (Romania) where the recording of one’s religion is at best a haphazard occurence. Nor does it help that Israel is a stickler for definitive proof, which must come from the maternal side of the family.
The filmmaker follows Nicolai’s persistent wife as she practically jumps through hoops to acquire the documents stating the magic words “Religion: Jewish.”
Eighteen harrowing months later, everything is finally in place. As an Israeli administrator wryly observes of Nicolai, who at this point is clueless about Jewish rituals or observance, “He forgot Judaism and Judaism forgot him.” In one touching scene, Nicolai and his family gamely attend an “alien” to them Chanukah celebration to which they’ve been invited.
When the family immigrates to Israel, this time as citizens, the Israeli government kicks in with a generous market basket of perks; these include cash, stipends, and free Hebrew lessons and training courses.
While the family’s path to assimilation isn’t exactly smooth and both Nicolai and his wife, who cleans houses, work very hard, they are well on the way to their Israeli dream. (Think car and, maybe someday, a house.)
Finally, the literary or “reel” part of this generally upbeat documentary is that it doesn’t take place in real time. When filmmaker Ofek meets Nicolai (and how he does so is revealed only at the end), Nicolai and his family are already settled in Israel. So Ofek has Nicolai and everyone else play themselves in a recreation of their story. And thereby hangs the “tale.”
“The Tale of Nicolai and the Law of Return” is just one of many films being presented at The Reel Israel: Films & Conversations, a weeklong look at documentary films from Israel. It is part of the free, community-wide celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) and Tel Aviv’s 100th birthday. Check the CJN’s City Beat each week for details.
This year, celebrate Israel cinematically! Dip into the many facets of the Jewish state’s life and people as seen through the cameras of a host of talented Israeli filmmakers.
cdettelbach@cjn.org
WHAT: The Reel Israel: Film & Conversations
WHEN: April 25-May 4
WHERE: Various venues around town
COST: Free
WHAT: “The Tale of Nicolai and the Law of Return.”
WHEN: Wed., April 29, at noon
WHERE: Idea Center at Playhouse Square
and
WHEN: Fri., May 1, at noon
WHERE: Siegal College
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