ROCK IN THE RED ZONE

Dir. Laura Bialis (87min, USA/Israel, 2014)
Hebrew and English with English Subtitles
Documentary

On the edge of Israel’s Negev Desert, half a mile from Gaza, and directly in the path of thousands of Hamas rockets lies Sderot, a city of factory workers and rock musicians – the children of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East.

Despite being pummeled for years by homemade missiles, the people of Sderot persevere. In raucous Moroccan celebrations, they embrace newcomers; in quiet family dinners, they voice their dreams. And in underground bomb shelters, they create music – a unique Sderot sound that has transformed Israeli music.

Into this intense cauldron of art, sand and bloodshed comes an American woman with a camera – filmmaker Laura Bialis encounters a community that captivates her, leads her to love, and changes the course of her life.

Laura Bialis is an award‐winning documentary filmmaker. Refusnik, Bialis’ critically acclaimed documentary about the 30-year international human rights campaign to free Soviet Jewry, was theatrically released in cities across the United States. View From the Bridge: Stories From Kosovo premiered at Slamdance 2008, and was used by the European Union and NATO to train its staff working in the rebuilding of Kosovo. Tak for Alt, the story of Holocaust survivor turned Civil Rights activist Judy Meisel, aired on PBS and was honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as, “one of the outstanding films of 1999.”

“The best and most important Israeli documentary I’ve seen in years. Nothing comes close to getting inside the Israeli psyche and soul.” -Yossi Klein Halevi