Cinema and Zionism

Ariel Feldstein (Ben-Gurion University), an Israeli professor specializing in Zionist studies, has written a book that looks at filmmaking as a way to create culture. Though the book is a film history, it is organized as a series of biographies of early filmmakers. Feldstein's subjects are not Israeli filmmakers; most of the films in this book pre-date the existence of modern Israel. Many Jewish filmmakers did not focus on Jewish identity and avoided Zionist politics, so a book on Jewish film also would not serve the author's purpose. The book is organized on the framework of Zionism; by looking at filmmakers creating early films about a Jewish state, Feldstein hopes both to trace the sources and early history of what became Israeli film, and to look at the way filmmaking functions as self-motivated propaganda: art that creates the culture it tries to document. As an Israeli scholar, Feldstein is obviously sympathetic to Zionism, but the book's focus is historical rather than political, and the author avoids both political polemic and political debate. It is well-written in an engaging narrative style, and will be of interest to popular and scholarly readers interested in Jewish studies, film studies, Israeli history, propaganda, or cultural history. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)