Ithaca College

"Waltz with Bashir" is screening on September 22 at 7:00 p.m. in Textor 101.

“Waltz with Bashir,” Israeli director Ari Folman’s animated documentary on his combat memories of the 1982 Lebanon War, will be screened as the first film in “Israeli Voices,” the semester-long Israeli film series sponsored by the Jewish Studies program at Ithaca College.

Folman’s film is in Hebrew with English subtitles, and the presentation is free and open to the public.

After serving in the Israeli infantry in the 1982 conflict between Israel and Lebanon, Folman began to travel the world with the ultimate goal of becoming a documentary filmmaker. After several films and many awards, he found himself sitting in a bar listening to an old friend retell a recurring nightmare about being chased by 26 vicious dogs.

The two veterans concluded the dream is connected to their combat experiences with the Israeli Army in the 1982 Lebanon War. Folman, however, was surprised he couldn’t remember any of the details. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to track down and interview six of his old comrades-in-arms, along with a psychologist and a reporter who was in Beirut the same time Folman was. As the director delved deeper into the mystery, he uncovered truths about his actions in the war and what people are capable of doing to each other.

“It was always my intention to make an animated documentary,” Folman told an interviewer. “For a few years, I had the basic idea for the film in my mind but was not happy to do it in real life video. How would that have looked? A middle-aged man being interviewed against a black background, telling stories that happened 25 years ago, without any archival footage to support them.”

Combining a soundtrack of classical and 1980s rock music with realistic graphics and surrealistic scenes, the film creates vivid images of war’s terrible toll.

The film series is generously sponsored by alumnus Steven Weiss ’91.

For more information, please contact Rebecca Lesses, Jewish Studies Coordinator, at 274-3556 or rlesses@ithaca.edu.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Kim Wojtanik in the H&S Dean’s Office at 274-3102 or kwojtanik@ithac.edu. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.