HoneySuckle Magazine
No Result
View All Result
  • Culture
  • Gender & Sexuality
  • Racial Politics
    • Black Lives Matter
    • A Culture Cries Out
    • Politics
  • Environment
    • Spirituality
      • Honey Drip
    • Health & Wellness
SHOP
Honey Suckle Magazine
  • Culture
  • Gender & Sexuality
  • Racial Politics
    • Black Lives Matter
    • A Culture Cries Out
    • Politics
  • Environment
    • Spirituality
      • Honey Drip
    • Health & Wellness
No Result
View All Result
Honey Suckle Magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home Culture

Israeli Film “Birth Right” Explores Complexities of Identity Through Real Immigration Stories

Horesh explores the complicated effects of Birthright through the intricacies of Judaism and identity.

January 23, 2021
Reading Time: 4min read
0
Birth right, film, Israeli

“Israel is the historical homeland of our ancestors, it is to this land that our grandparents and great-grandparents dreamed to return. And you, all of you, have the opportunity to fulfill this dream and to return home.”

RELATED POSTS

15 Queer Movies To Watch This Valentine’s Day

Filmmaker Richard B. Pierre On “An Uninvited Guest” and the Emotional Weight of Depicting Racism and Police Brutality On-Screen

Shaun O’ Connor’s “A White Horse” Depicts Impacts of Homophobia and Gay Conversion Therapy

These are the first words we hear in Israeli director Inbar Horesh’s 2019 short film “Birthright.” They are delivered to a group of young Russians on a tour bus in Israel by their group leader.

The group, which includes main character Natasha, played by and based on Nataliya Olshanskaya, is in Israel on a Birthright trip.

Birthright Israel, a nonprofit organization, has sponsored trips to Israel for over 750,000 young adults from around the world since its founding in 1999. All young adults between the ages of 18 and 32 are eligible, provided they are Jewish; one or both birth parents are Jewish, or the individual has converted to Judaism. 

Partially funded by the Government of Israel, these all-inclusive trips have been criticized recently, with some Jews saying the trips do not encompass both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Nataliya Olshanskaya’s Story and her Jewish Identity

In the film, Horesh explores the complicated effects of Birthright through the intricacies of Judaism and identity.

Horesh based the main character of Natasha on Olshanskaya, who she met by chance. Olshanskaya was raised Christian with paternal Jewish roots, and heard about Birthright coincidentally. She saw it as an opportunity to travel, but ended up staying in Israel after the trip.

“She didn’t [grow up] Jewish, she never considered herself Jewish, and yet she was encouraged in a very deliberate way to immigrate to Israel,” said Horesh.

Horesh was so interested in Olshanskaya’s story that she went home the day she met her and wrote the first draft of the script for “Birth Right.” She said that as a native Israeli, she had never heard of an experience like Olshanskaya’s, but as she learned later, it was a common one.

ADVERTISEMENT

Natasha’s character in the film, like Olshanskaya, is Jewish only through her father. However, according to Jewish law, religion and ancestry are passed down through the mother. In one scene, Natasha’s friend, Masha, asserts that Natasha isn’t Jewish. Her other friend, Asya, tells Natasha she won’t be able to get married in Israel.

This scene represents how Horesh successfully portrays the turmoil Natasha feels as she comes to grips with her identity and the exclusion she faces based on the technicalities of Jewish identity.

The film carefully and beautifully delivers the difficulty Natasha experiences in attaining actualization and coming to terms with her identity.

“I’m interested in dealing with identity aspects in cinema, and I’m interested in finding new ways to approach Israeli politics, so for me, this story was like a cinematic goal. An opportunity to approach many topics that are very hard to approach in Israel, but from a complete new perspective,” Horesh said.

Birth right, film, Israeli

Israeli Identity as Portrayed in “Birthright”

Horesh, whose previous films include “The Visit” (2014), “Crossing” (2015), and “Taxi” (2015), saw “Birth Right” as an opportunity to explore not only Jewish identity through Natasha, but also Israeli identity through another character, Ilya.

In the film, the Birthright group is introduced to two Israeli soldiers. One of them, named Ilya, explains to the group that he was born in Russia but moved to Israel when he was three years old. Horesh used his character to represent the difficulties of immigration.

“He grew up in Israel, so he hardly speaks any Russian, and it’s hard for him to relate to the group. But at the same time, in Israel, he was treated as a Russian,” Horesh said.

Ilya personifies the intricacies of Israeli identity and its interactions with the immigrant experience. 

Between the two characters, Horesh is successful in using Israel as a lens to explore the intricacies of identity, wherever you may come from.

Director Inbar Horesh on Casting

The characters Natasha and Ilya, as well as others, are played by non-actors. Horesh initially started accepting auditions from non-actors because of the difficulties of finding young actors who are Russian speakers in Israel.

However, as Horesh went through the audition process, she found just how common experiences like Nataliya’s were among non-native Israelis. She said that at some point, the auditions turned into hearing immigrants’ stories.

“It became like a session of interviews, actually. I was just collecting more and more stories,” Horesh said.

Among those non-actors that did formally audition, Horesh said there was particular resonance with Ilya’s character, who struggles to fit into Russia or Israel.

“Every one of the people that read the script, it doesn’t matter from which background, for all of them, this was the character that they most related to…this feeling of being in between and not completely fitting anywhere,” Horesh said.

This demonstrated to Horesh how common the experiences like the ones she portrayed in “Birth Right” are in Israel; she had heard far more stories than she could include in the short. Horesh is now using these experiences to produce a feature film, which she is in the midst of working on.

Tags: Film
ShareTweet
Madeleine Aitken

Madeleine Aitken

Madeleine (Maddie) Aitken is a sophomore at Tufts University majoring in English and film & media studies. She is passionate about sharing stories and hopes to do so in an accessible but thought-provoking way. Her interests include film, books, and music.

Related Posts

Valentine's Day Movies Queer
Culture

15 Queer Movies To Watch This Valentine’s Day

an uninvited guest, film
Culture

Filmmaker Richard B. Pierre On “An Uninvited Guest” and the Emotional Weight of Depicting Racism and Police Brutality On-Screen

a white horse, film
Film

Shaun O’ Connor’s “A White Horse” Depicts Impacts of Homophobia and Gay Conversion Therapy

short film alina
Culture

Rami Kodeih’s Short Film “Alina” Captures Feats of Survival and Loss During War 

Da Yie, film review
Culture

Anthony Nti’s Film “Da Yie” Depicts Childlike Innocence in a Dangerous World

Welcome to Chechnya, film
Culture

HBO Documentary Film “Welcome to Chechnya” is a Harrowing Account of Anti-Gay Purges in the Republic of Chechnya

Next Post
vegan bodybuilder

How to Eat Like a Vegan Bodybuilder

Women, 2020

Some Trials and Triumphs Women Faced in 2020

Discussion about this post

Recommended Stories

Hakim Green

Hakim Green Celebrates 25 Years of “Mad Izm”

Israeli Film “Birth Right” Explores Complexities of Identity Through Real Immigration Stories

A Dirty Word: An Interview with Author Steph Auteri

Israeli Film “Birth Right” Explores Complexities of Identity Through Real Immigration Stories

Female Scientists Leading the Way

Popular Stories

  • On Secret Sex Work, Cardi B, and Finding Liberty

    On Secret Sex Work, Cardi B, and Finding Liberty

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Unbound: King Noire on Kink, Porn, and Polyamory

    291 shares
    Share 291 Tweet 0
  • Illegal Cannabis is Unconstitutional: Hiller PC Takes Landmark Case to Supreme Court

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The Power of Your Life Path Number

    14 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 0
  • Michigan Department of Corrections Under Fire for Failing to Take Appropriate Measures to Combat Covid-19

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Honeysuckle Magazine

Honeysuckle Magazine provides an outlet that emphasizes diverse perspectives and creative expression. Wise, yet provocative, we aim to normalize the discussions of taboo topics.

Recent Articles

  • Rainbow Haze
  • 5 Tips for Writing a Perfect Environmental Management Paper
  • What the Gorilla Glue Faux Pas Tells Us About Defiance and Innovation in Black Hairdressing 

Download the Apps

Honeysuckle on Apple App Store
Honeysuckle on Google Play Store

About Honeysuckle

  • About Us
  • Team
  • Press & Awards

© Copyright 2020 Honeysuckle Magazine, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

No Result
View All Result
  • Culture
  • Gender & Sexuality
  • Racial Politics
  • Sustainability and Environment
    • Spirituality
    • Health & Wellness
  • Honeysuckle Studios
  • Honey Pot
  • Shop
  • Honey Drip

© Copyright 2020 Honeysuckle Magazine, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?