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Friday January 18, 2008

Shorts: Art

Filmmaker admits ‘Palestine’ gaffe

The filmmaker behind “In the Valley of Elah” acknowledged that he erroneously described the biblical site’s location as Palestine. The admission by writer-director Paul Haggis came in excerpts published recently from an email correspondence with Jerusalem Post commentator Uzi Silber.

Haggis’ critically acclaimed Iraq War drama includes a scene in which a character played by Tommy Lee Jones describes the location of the Elah Valley as Palestine. In fact, the valley is in central Israel. “According to biblical scholars, [the Elah Valley] was in ancient Palestine,” Silber quoted Haggis as telling him when queried about the reference. Silber responded with the facts and pointed out the risks of wrongly applying terminology that could be misunderstood as a comment on the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Haggis responded, “Then our research was just plain wrong. Nothing other than that.” — jta

Israel Philharmonic to play S.F.

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will perform works from Leonard Bernstein — including “West Side Story,” “Candide” and “On the Town” — in a Feb. 9 performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Jamie Bernstein, daughter of the acclaimed composer and conductor, will host the evening. Tickets range from $250 to $5,000. For more information, visit American Friends of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra at www.afipo.org or call (800) 422-3476.

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