An uncomfortable ride down Route 1
Forty minutes in a car with two strangers in ‘Aya’
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
The featured video was shown at the opening of the film festival, mimicking this year’s image of a woman holding balloons while riding a bike, and presenting well-known and -loved sites around the city.
Day 6, Jerusalem Film Festival. Only made it to one movie Wednesday, and a 40-minute one at that, although I had plans to make it to one, even two others.
But my 40-minute viewing of “Aya,” an Israeli feature film that takes place primarily inside a car — the popular Mazda 3 — was enjoyable throughout. A story about a woman who takes advantage of an unexpected encounter at an airport, when a tourist mistakes her for his assigned driver, “Aya” has that ability to make the viewer feel slightly uncomfortable and nervous, waiting for the other shoe to fall, so to speak. (I was also bothered by the fact that neither of them was wearing their seatbelts, while driving on Route 1 to Jerusalem. Unconscionable!)
Aya, the main character, is sweet and somewhat quirky and carries the film, as she needs to. She and her stranger passenger have a solid rapport, which helps drive the story, and I was impressed by the filming, given the amount of time spent in the car or looking at it from the highway.
This was the second and final showing of “Aya,” but keep an eye out for it elsewhere. I wanted to make it to “Israeli Short Films — Program 2,” 118 minutes-worth of films made by students from five different Israeli film schools, and “The Deep Blue Sea,” an English, post-WWII film by director Terence Davies. Luckily, both are being shown Thursday night; that is, Israeli Student Films — Program 3, is being shown Thursday afternoon at 2:30 pm, while “The Deep Blue Sea” will be screened Thursday, 5:30 pm at Cinematheque 1.