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Gal Gadot wants to work with Argentine-Jewish director Damian Szifron
BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — Gal Gadot revealed in an interview that went viral in Argentine media that she would like to collaborate with Damian Szifron, an acclaimed Argentine-Jewish director who often weaves Jewish characters into his work.
A snippet of the Israeli “Wonder Woman” star talking to Argentine journalist Agustin Eme about Szifron was viewed millions of times on social media earlier this month. She said that Szifron’s 2014 film “Wild Tales” was one of her favorite films.
“Damian, I would love to work with you,” Gadot said in the video, which was part of a conversation about her latest Netflix film “Heart of Stone.”
“My personal mission now is to talk to Damian Szifron, to [have him] make a movie with you,” Eme responded.
¿Alguien tiene a mano el teléfono de Szifron? pic.twitter.com/LYUOet5Ahr
— Agustin Eme (@agustineme) August 11, 2023
Before becoming one of Argentina’s best-known filmmakers, Szifron, 48, was born and raised in Ramos Mejia, a small suburb outside of Buenos Aires. He grew up attending a Jewish school and going to the only Jewish center and sport club in the region.
His big break came with the TV show “The Pretenders,” a series about con artists hired to solve people’s problems, which won a Martin Fierro award — Argentina’s equivalent of an Emmy — for best TV series in 2002. Many of the characters were based on Jewish people from the real Jewish community center Szifron grew up attending — the CISO (Centro Israelita Sionista del Oeste, or the Western Israelite Zionist Center), which serves a small, middle-class Jewish community on the western side of the greater Buenos Aires area.
Szifron’s film career began with 2003’s “Bottom of the Sea,” a comedic drama starring Uruguayan-Jewish actor Daniel Hendler. The protagonist of his second film, 2005’s “On Probation” (in Spanish, “Tiempo de valientes,” or “Time For the Brave”), is a Jewish psychologist named Mariano Silverstein.
Szifron’s 2014 anthology film “Wild Tales” won him global acclaim. It also included multiple Jewish characters and moments — such as an entire segment about a Jewish wedding, complete with klezmer music.
He has said that after his paternal grandfather escaped from a train headed to a Nazi death camp. Szifron’s father worked in a cinema.
“He could watch the films for free. He became a huge cinephile, so ever since I can remember I have a memory of being taken to the cinema by him,” Szifron said in 2015.
Gadot’s “Heart of Stone,” an action thriller, was released earlier this month. Pending the outcome of the Hollywood writer and actor strikes, she is set to star as the Evil Queen in a “Snow White” adaptation next year.
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The post Gal Gadot wants to work with Argentine-Jewish director Damian Szifron appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Former Hostage From Nova Music Festival Massacre Invites Trump to Dance With Survivors at Memorial Concert
An Israeli soldier stands during a two-minute siren marking the annual Israeli Holocaust Remembrance Day, at an installation at the site of the Nova festival where party goers were killed and kidnapped during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, in Reim, southern Israel, May 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
The second annual memorial concert honoring the victims killed at the Nova music festival in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, will take place in June, and US President Donald Trump has been invited to attend.
The Tribe of Nova community announced on Tuesday details about the “Nova Healing Concert” scheduled for June 26 at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park. Former hostage Mia Schem, who was abducted by Hamas terrorists at the site of the music festival, addressed the media in Israel on Tuesday to talk about the upcoming concert while also sharing a message with Trump.
“Thank you, President Trump, for everything you’re doing to release the hostages,” she said. “I invite you to dance with us in Yarkon Park and celebrate the moment when everyone finally returns home.”
“My vision, and that of everyone’s, is that this year should be different,” Schem added. “A year when we won’t have to shout but embrace. Let’s dance not just for them but with them. This is the strength of our community – it heals, it strengthens, it is our home.”
The setlist for the concert includes Benaia Barabi, Berry Sakharof, Mosh Ben-Ari, Sasi and Rita. The event on June 26 will also feature activities such as therapeutic workshops and spaces for dealing with trauma. Tickets are open and available to the general public, and admission is free for survivors of the Oct. 7 massacre and members of the bereaved families. All profits from ticket sales and event sponsorships will be used by the Nova Tribe Community Association to support the physical and mental healing of Oct. 7 survivors and members of their families, as well as commemoration for those murdered during the Hamas terrorist attack. Last year’s memorial concert was attended by tens of thousands of young people, according to Ynet.
Hamas-led terrorists from the Gaza Strip who infiltrated the music festival in Re’im during the early morning of Oct. 7, 2023, killed 370 people and abducted 44 hostages. Overall, the terrorists killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 captives during their rampage across southern Israel.
The post Former Hostage From Nova Music Festival Massacre Invites Trump to Dance With Survivors at Memorial Concert first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Agrees to Talks on Lebanon Border, to Free Five Lebanese, PM Office Says
An Israeli flag flies in Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, as seen from Metula, northern Israel, Dec. 3, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
Israel said on Tuesday it had agreed to hold talks to demarcate its border with Lebanon, adding it would release five Lebanese detainees held by the Israeli military in what it called a “gesture to the Lebanese president.”
A statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had agreed with Lebanon, the US, and France to establish working groups to discuss the demarcation line between the two countries.
Though Israel has largely withdrawn from southern Lebanon under a ceasefire deal agreed in November, its troops continue to hold five hilltop positions in the area with airstrikes in southern Lebanon citing what it described as Hezbollah activity.
The ceasefire deal ended more than a year of conflict between Israel‘s military and the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah that was playing out in parallel with the Gaza war.
The fighting peaked in a major Israeli air and ground campaign in southern Lebanon that left Hezbollah badly weakened, with most of its military command killed in Israeli strikes.
The post Israel Agrees to Talks on Lebanon Border, to Free Five Lebanese, PM Office Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UN Security Council to Meet Over Iran’s Growing Stockpile of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium
Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
The United Nations Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday over Iran’s expansion of its stock of uranium close to weapons grade, diplomats said on Monday.
The meeting was requested by six of the council’s 15 members – France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain, and the US.
They also want the council to discuss Iran’s obligation to provide the UN nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency – with “the information necessary to clarify outstanding issues related to undeclared nuclear material detected at multiple locations in Iran,” diplomats said.
Iran’s mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the planned meeting.
Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level, the IAEA has warned.
Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
Iran reached a deal in 2015 with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia, and China – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – that lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.
Washington quit the agreement in 2018 during Donald Trump’s first term as US president, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments.
Britain, France, and Germany have told the UN Security Council that they are ready – if needed – to trigger a so-called snap back of all international sanctions on Iran to prevent the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
They will lose the ability to take such action on Oct. 18 this year when the 2015 UN resolution on the deal expires. US President Donald Trump has directed his UN envoy to work with allies to snap back international sanctions and restrictions on Iran.
The post UN Security Council to Meet Over Iran’s Growing Stockpile of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium first appeared on Algemeiner.com.