Joshua Faudem

Gdud A'liyah

The long lasting Palestinian-Israeli conflict has created appaling phenomenons that have horrified the Israeli society. the "politically conscience-refusals" or those individual soldiers refusing to fight in the occupied territories, are one of those phenomenons. In opposition to them stand a thousand immigrants from the former Soviet Union, ex-military men from the Red Army, who yearn to be recruited into the IDF and fight for Israel, but who are denied the right to serve in the army. Through the stories of Oleg and Alex, immigrants and the battalion's charismatic commanders, the story of the Russkii Battalion is told. It is a story of contrasts between the hardships of the daily struggles they face as new immigrants against the pride and the sense of belonging they find in the battalion. The Russkii Battalion is a film about a militaristic social bubble, in a country that is in constant war.

Blues by the Beach

Fate brings filmmakers together in Israel in April of 2003. They begin a documentary about a live music blues bar by the beach in Tel Aviv called Mike's Place. The aim is to show there is more to the Middle East than seemingly endless war and terrorism. Filming people having a good time stops abruptly when harsh reality hits Mike's Place and changes the course of their film