The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life will launch a yearlong Israeli film series with a Tuesday, Sept. 27 screening of “The Band’s Visit,” a 2007 comedy about an Egyptian police band that gets lost while on an official visit to Israel.
The film stars the late Israeli actress Ronit Elkabetz, who is the focus of several screenings in the film series. Elkabetz, an Israeli of Moroccan ancestry, starred in many Israel films, often playing Mizrachi Jewish characters not unlike herself. She died earlier this year from cancer at the age of 51.
Two more films starring Elkabetz and focusing on Mizrachi identity will be shown in November.
The series will continue in 2017, with the focus “Snapshots of History, Society and Culture in Israeli Cinema.” Screenings will take place in January, February and April.
The series is co-presented by the Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies. “The Band’s Visit” screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, in the Warren Room of Berkeley Law, 295 Boalt Hall, in Berkeley. The screening is free. For more information: www.magnes.org.