A HEBREW LESSON
(Ha'Ulpan)

total length: 123 minutes
language: Hebrew/English/Chinese/Russian/German/Spanish
subtitles: English     
genre: Documentary
© circa 2006

FROM UK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL WEBSITE:

Director: David Ofek & Ron Rotem
Israel 2006
 

Originally set up to assist Jewish immigrants to gain basic Hebrew language skills, the ‘Ulpan’ became a central institution in the process of integration into Israeli society. Six decades into the Israeli state the students are no longer passionate Jews fulfilling their desire to emigrate to Israel, nor Jewish refugees escaping persecution. In 2004, in an ulpan in the heart of Tel Aviv, a different and fascinating tapestry of individuals face the difficulties of a new language and a new life. Among them Chin, a Chinese migrant worker who married her Israeli employer; Sasha from Russia who came to Israel in a desperate attempt to be nearer to his young daughter, and Annabel, a German woman who fell in love with an Israeli. Through an intimate and sensitive observation of this group of students, this engrossing documentary brings home the immigrant experience in all its complexity with great humor and charm.