‘TouchDown Israel,’ Brotherhood Across Gridiron Lines (Video)

Last updated on: May 1, 2015 at 5:01 pm by Kate O'Hare

‘TouchDown Israel,’ Brotherhood Across Gridiron Lines (Video) 2015-05-01T17:01:42-08:00 Kate O'Hare

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On Sunday night, May 3, at 5 p.m. PT, at the Laemmle’s Town Center in Encino, California, the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival — click here for ticket and schedule information — presents a screening of the 2014 feature-length documentary “TouchDown Israel,” by American writer/director Paul Hirschberger.

It explores the fast-growing sport of American football in Israel. Started in 1988, American Football in Israel (AFI), now has over 90 contact and non-contact teams. In 2005, the AFI established the Israel Football League (IFL), which began with 25 enthusiasts in Tel Aviv and now has 600-plus players and 10 teams — in a nation about the size of New Jersey.

With nationalistic fervor centered on soccer, fans are enjoying the on-field aggression — but off-field family-style relaxation — of IFL games.

Players are secular and religious; Israeli-born and not; Arab, Jew or other; Muslim, Jewish and Christian. “TouchDown Israel” follows the IFL’s season-five quest for the Israel Bowl, as veterans and rookies (not just to the IFL, but sometimes to football itself) work on game strategy and get to know each other as people.

All this is happening in large part due to the efforts of Robert Kraft, owner of the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, who’s interviewed in the film. A noted philanthropist, Kraft is longtime supporter — with the intense, hands-on involvement of his late wife, Myra — of various Jewish causes in American and in Israel.

As it says at AFI’s page at the International Federation of American Football site:

The AFI has a very special relationship with the Kraft family, owners of the New England Patriots. Robert and Myra Kraft have been supporters of the organization for over a decade, sponsoring the national teams, tackle leagues and of course building Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem. Without their love and support, American football in Israel would be far from where it is today.

The goal of Hirschberger’s film was not to celebrate the inherent rough-and-tumble of American football, but to show how this intensely team game forges bonds through effort, pain and self-sacrifice.

As one right-wing Israeli player says about his teammate in the film, “Who’d have thought I’d have a friend named Saud Kassas? Not me. Not in a million years.”

Said Hirschberger:

There’s no such thing as a documentary film where someone doesn’t have a point of view. So, my point of view was, from the beginning, was, “Isn’t this interesting, people of different religions, different beliefs and backgrounds, are not only getting along, but they’re actually being successful doing it.”

So that was was one of the premises. And, I wanted to understand how that was for people, like these three guys who, from the outside, are so different, and yet they’re not once you get to know them.

For me, that was the takeaway, that people are willing to sacrifice themselves, in a way, for the good of their community. You have to trust — which is very difficult for many people and especially for Israelis. They are always looking over their shoulders, because many of them have done that for years, not just Jews but Arabs. So, for you to be able to listen is very important.

Take a look at the trailer:

Image: “TouchDown Israel” Facebook page

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