An Evening With Etgar Keret

Etgar Keret is one of Israel's leading authors and one of the most internationally prominent fiction writers of his generation. Born in Tel Aviv in 1967, he is the author of The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories (2004), The Nimrod Flipout (2006), Missing Kissinger (2008), and The Girl On The Fridge (2008). His books have been best­ sellers both in Israel and abroad and have received international acclaim. His short stories appear in many publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, and the Paris Review. He has received the Book Publishers Association's Platinum Prize several times, the Prime Minister's Prize, and the Ministry of Culture's Cinema Prize. Over 40 short movies have been based on his stories. His movie, Skin Deep, won First Prize at several international film festivals and was awarded the Israeli Oscar. At the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, he and his wife Shira Geffen won both the Golden Camera award and the SACD screenwriting award for their film Jellyfish. In 2010, he received the Chevalier Medallion of France's Order of Arts and Letters. Etgar and his wife Shira visited UIUC's campus in the Fall of 2010 through the Israel Studies Project.

Location: Third Floor, Levis Faculty Center

Date: 8/24/2010, 7:00 pm 

Video of Evening With here.

Panel Discussion: Debating the Country, Surprising the People: The Public Sphere in Israel 

Rachel S. Harris (Comparative Literature, Illinois) 
Todd Hasak-Lowy (Hebrew Literature, U of Florida) 
Etgar Keret (Writer, Tel Aviv)

Moderator: Matti Bunzl (Program in Jewish Culture & Society, Illinois) 

The conflicts in the Middle East and the way they are reported in the United States obscure one of the most fascinating aspects of Israeli culture: its remarkably dynamic and diverse public sphere. Israelis debate the world and their country in numerous daily papers, on radio and television, and across the internet. In this panel discussion, two states-side experts on Israeli culture, literary scholars Rachel S. Harris and Todd Hasak-Lowy, will be joined by renown Tel Aviv-based writer Etgar Keret, one of the leading Israeli authors and among the country's most prominent public intellectuals. Together, they will debate the nature of Israel's public sphere at this moment in time. 

Location: Levis Faculty Center, Music Room

Date: 8/25/2010, 4 pm

An Evening with Etgar Keret, ChicagoKeret Chicago

Location: 208 S. Columbus Dr, Chicago

Date: 8/26/2010, 6 pm

 

8/31/2010

4:00 pm – Jewish Studies Workshop with Etgar & Shira, 109 English Building 

Film Screening Jellyfish & Discussion, Cohen Center for Jewish Life 503 E John St. Champaign, 7 pmJellyfish

The screening will be followed by a discussion with Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen. Winner of the Golden Palm at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, Jellyfish (Meduzot) is a richly imaginative portrait of three very different women emotionally adrift in Tel Aviv. Co-directed by acclaimed Israeli author Etgar Keret (The Nimrod Flipout, The Girl on the Fridge) and his wife Shira Geffen, the film explores Israeli frames of mind in a unique fashion – remarkably apolitical and boldly atmospheric, buoyed by charming touches of magical realism. While Batya (Sarah Adler, Godard's Notre Musique), a struggling waitress, cares for a mysterious child that appeared to her out of the sea, newlywed Keren nurses a broken leg and a ruined honeymoon, and Filipino migrant worker Joy tries to support her son back home. With striking cinematography and moving performances, Jellyfish is a witty and warm reflection on making connections and confronting destiny in a deconstructed urban landscape.