{image1}"Broken Wings," the feature debut from director Nir Bergman, is the kind of Israeli film that Americans could probably benefit from seeing more of.
Let's face it, unless you've been there, your idea of Israel is probably one of a war-torn country laced with politics so complex that most of us don't really have anything more than a superficial understanding of them. The Israeli people, for us, are usually running frantically in news footage of a bombing or mourning at a funeral or issuing this or that political statement. They're either the victims or the victimizers, depending on your views.
This is no way to understand a people or to understand that they are people like us; people who love and who hurt and who rejoice.
Bergman's film has no war. It has no bombings and it has no politics, other than family politics. What "Broken Wings" has is a family shattered not by religion or politics, but by the loss of its patriarch, who has died in a freak accident. Nine months later, his wife and their four children are on different paths, their bonds rapidly disintegrating.
{image2}Maya (Maya Maron), 17, is the eldest and despite her desire to make a career as a singer/songwriter, she's forced to help care for her younger siblings. And she's not happy about it. Yair (Nitai Gvirtz), a teenager, has dropped out of school and hides behind his fatalistic philosophy. Younger son Ido (Daniel Magon) fears the bullies at school and wants to leave it all behind, a la his older brother. Six-year-old Bahr (Eliana Magon) is starting kindergarten and is, arguably, the loneliest of the bunch.
Their mother Dafna (Orly Zilberschatz-Banai) is a midwife who works the late-night shift at the Haifa hospital. She and Maya are constantly at odds, and she's run out of ideas for getting Yair back into school. Her car won't ever start, work interferes with family and vice versa. How on Earth can she get her life -- and her family -- together?
Maya's written a lovely and heart-rending song about her father, and it has gotten the attention of a Tel Aviv record company, but will she be able to make the most of this opportunity, or will her family's crises get in the way?
Soon, tragedy strikes again and a musical career becomes the farthest thing from her mind. Instead, this latest setback may deal the death blow to the Ullman family.
Sincere, starkly painted and at times sweetly witty, "Broken Wings" -- packed with wonderful performances -- rightfully became the darling of the international film festivals, notching award after award in Europe, Asia and Israel.
"Broken Wings" screens at UWM's Union Theater, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., Sunday, Sept. 18 at 5 p.m.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
