Saturday, January 8 / 7:45-10:30 pm

A Matter of Size (In Hebrew: Sipur Gadol)

Four overweight friends from the Israeli city of Ramle are fed up of dieting and the dieting club they belong to. When Herzl (341 lbs.), the main protagonist, loses his job as a cook and starts working as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant in Ramle he discovers the world of Sumo where large people such as himself are honored and appreciated. Through the restaurant owner Kitano (132 lbs.), a former Sumo coach in Japan, he falls in love with a sport involving "two fatsos in diapers and girly hairdos." Herzl wants Kitano to be their coach but Kitano is reluctant-they first have to earn their spurs.

A Matter of Size is a comedy about a 'coming out' of a different kind--overweight people learning to accept themselves.

Winner of 3 Israeli Academy Awards & 8 Film Festival Audience Awards
 

Saturday, January 22 / 7:45-10:30 pm

Dear Mr. Waldman (In Hebrew: Michtavim L'America)

In Tel Aviv in the 1960s 10-year-old Hilik knows his goal in life-to make his parents happy and compensate for the grief they both suffered in the Holocaust. The fragile equilibrium of Rivka and Moishe's new, post-war life begins to waver when Moishe convinces himself that Yankele, his son from his first marriage, didn't actually die in Auschwitz, but rather survived to become President Kennedy's assistant, the "Jack Waldman" he sees pictured in a newspaper. When a deluded Moishe writes a letter to Waldman, Hilik takes matters into his own hands.

Dear Mr. Waldman, a coming-of-age story written and directed by the son of survivors, beautifully captures the milieu of mid-century Israel and the peculiarities of growing up amid the emotional wreckage of the Holocaust. This film is Rated R.

Both programs include light refreshments and moderated discussion following the film. Admission each night, payable at the door, is $10 per person for TI members and $12 for nonmembers. RSVP to adulted@tikvatisrael.org.

Snow Date: Saturday, January 29