Archive | 2010 | June
HBO picks up Israeli movie ‘Google Baby’
The Israeli documentary film “Google Baby,” by Zippi Brand Frank, has been bought by the American cable network HBO. It is set to air in prime time on June 16.
The screening will be preceded by a publicity campaign that will include interviews with Brand Frank and the protagonists of the film in important daily papers, such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
“Google Baby,” produced a year ago for the Yes Docu channel, traces a budding worldwide industry of “producing” babies, run almost entirely from personal computers. Specifically, one company set up by an Israeli entrepreneur coordinates for Israeli sperm to be flown to the United States for the artificial insemination of American ova.
Frozen embryos are then transported to India, where they are implanted in the uterus of local surrogate mothers who spend the next nine months in a “greenhouse” of Western lifestyle. After the woman gives birth, the parents fly to India and pick up the baby.
The film won the 2009 Docaviv Israeli Competition in Tel Aviv, and has been invited to scores of festivals worldwide. Brand Frank will arrive in the United States next week, after visiting China where the film is a contender in the prestigious Magnolia competition. The film also played on the Arte channel in Europe and on HBO Latino. Brand Frank said it is also set to be shown on British Channel 4.
“It’s a strong journalistic topic that people didn’t really spot until the movie came out,” Brand Frank says. “A lot of people have asked me how a film on this issue came out in Israel, of all places.”
Source: Haaretz.com
TA Municipality invited to largest European gay parade
Israeli gay community, Tel Aviv Municipality will be formal guests of Madrid gay parade. Collaboration to launch off city’s campaign branding it as leading destination for gay tourism.
The Israeli gay community and the Tel Aviv Municipality will guest in the largest European gay parade to take place in Madrid in early July. The unique collaboration between the two cities will kick off a campaign branding the city as a leading gay tourism destination.
The Israeli Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association has been working with the Tel Aviv Municipality to turn the city into a sought-after travel destination for gay tourists. As part of the efforts, the Israeli gay community has been invited as an official and central guest in the gay events in Madrid.
A Tel Aviv bus bearing the slogan “TLV Love Embassy” will participate in the parade and will transport four representatives of the Israeli community.
The four will also participate in various events in Madrid between June 30 and July 5. Auditions for the representatives are slated to be held later this week in Tel Aviv.
The events will include a large Tel Aviv party to be held in the Spanish capital’s entertainment complex led by Israeli DJs and artists, as well as meetings between the Madrid and Tel Aviv community leaders.
_wa.jpg)
Partying in Tel Aviv (Photo: Yaron Brener)
“Participation in the Madrid gay parade is another step in Tel Aviv’s transformation into the next hot destination in gay tourism,” the Gay Association’s tourism chief Shai Deutsch said. “There is no doubt that our presence there, together with the European campaign will contribute to a significant increase in gay tourism in Tel Aviv this coming winter,” he added.
Yaniv Weizman, manager of the tourism portfolio in the municipality, noted that gay parades around the world are a good opportunity to introduce Tel Aviv’s “gay face.”
He added that the municipality participated in the New York parade last year and said the plan is to attend all major parades around the world in the coming years.
Source: Ynetnews.com
VIDEO: Missy Elliot Performing in Israel
Rapper Missy Elliot will be visiting Israel in mid-July. This would be her first concert in the country. Local Israeli group Hadag Nahash will be the opening act.
Missy Elliot has released hits such as “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” “Get Ur Freak On” and “Work It.” The five-time Grammy winner has also produced music for Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and Madonna.
The concert will be held on July 15 at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds.
Source: Shalom Life
Toronto: From Gershwin to Dylan THE GENIUS OF JEWISH SONG WRITERS
June 16th 2010 : The Tribute Recital Hall-York University.
A concert dedicated to songs written by Jewish composers and lyricists.
The Idea behind Gitit’s current production evolved about a year ago and involved a thoroughresearch in allocating and understanding the scope of Jewish talents and their contribution to the popular contemporary music throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
The year long research and process was a key to the cherry pick of these great masterpieces and the stories that influenced the creation looking for the song writers roots and understanding their backgroundscultures and heritage which lead to their worldwide huge success.
_wa.jpg&description=TA Municipality invited to largest European gay parade on http://www.sizedoesntmatter.com){kind=link}
! on http://www.sizedoesntmatter.com){kind=link}
US, Israeli biochemists win Spain’s Asturias prize
MADRID – Two American biochemists and another from Israel on Wednesday received one of Spain’s Prince of Asturias awards for their research into the workings of pain.
The Prince of Asturias Foundation said Americans David Julius and Linda Watkins and Israel’s Baruch Minke were granted the 2010 award for technical and scientific research.
It said that the three are individually recognized by the scientific community as world leaders in sensorial neurobiology, and that their findings have opened up new avenues for treating pain.
