Who, What & Where: Inventing Anna, Tel Aviv marathon, Mrs Maisel and JW3 cinema
Our weekly roundup of what's on and what's hot
Netflix: A Jewish invention
Who hasn’t been or isn’t currently hooked on Inventing Anna? As addictive as The Tinder Swindler, the Netflix series created by Shonda Rhimes has kept us all up too late and longing to stay at La Mamounia hotel in Morocco. And the clothes! Holding us in her spell as fake heiress Anna Delvey, an infamous scammer socialite, is Ozark’s Julia Garner (above).
Extremely talented, but “not conventional Hollywood beautiful” (her words), Julia describes herself as “kind of weird-looking, especially at 16, when I had weird curly hair and a gap tooth. I still look the same. So, I get cult members. I get pregnant Mormon girls”. And still she got Anna Delvey, the darling of Manhattan’s party set, from whom she stole thousands but planned to take millions. Julia told Rolling Stone magazine that, ahead of filming, she visited Delvey – real name Anna Sorokin – in prison, where she was serving
a four-to-12-year sentence for larceny, but the working-class Russian girl who repackaged herself as a billionaire German heiress was still a mystery. “Anna doesn’t know herself, and it’s really hard to play someone who doesn’t know themselves.”
Julia was raised in what she describes as a colourful Jewish household in the Bronx. Her father is an artist and her Israeli mother, Tamar Gingold, was once a sketch comedian on Israel TV, but is now a therapist and transformed their living room into an improv stage. In her next film, The Assistant, Julia is Jane, the browbeaten assistant of a Harvey Weinstein-esque mogul, for whom she organises everything, including the things she really shouldn’t, such as erectile dysfunction medicine, and calls from his wife. Not nearly as much fun as going to parties in Alexander McQueen dresses and Celine sunglasses as Delvey (right), but no doubt as compelling. Until its release, fans will make do with the meme T-shirt.
The Tel Aviv Marathon took place last Friday, with tens of thousands of runners from more than 40 countries taking part. Taking the crown for the men was Vincent Kipsang Rono of Kenya (above), with a time of two hours, 12 minutes and 55 seconds and the women’s winner, Israeli Mantamar Bikaya, shortly after on two hours 53 minutes and one second.
Taking place for the first time after receiving the label of the World Athletics Association, the 2022 Samsung Tel Aviv Marathon is the first Israeli marathon to hold this licence. Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai said: “We were proud the event was the first Israeli marathon to receive the standard mark of the World Athletics Association and officially become one of the leading marathons in the world.”
Israeli TV: Life’s a Beach
The Kosher Beach is a gated 100-metre strip of beach in Tel Aviv with dedicated days for women and men to bathe separately. It’s only a half-hour drive from Bnei Brak, a closed Orthodox city, but for the ‘Brave Bunch’, a female Orthodox sisterhood from Bnei Brak, it’s light years away. It’s their source of quiet sanity; their own private haven of freedom where they can be themselves, take a deep ocean breath and open their hearts to the sea. An entire hidden world full of humour is exposed, which only exists from the moment they get on the minibus that takes them to the beach to the moment they get off the bus and re-enter their city. What happens when the heads of their community threaten to close the strip down is what you will see in Kosher Beach now on www.streamisrael.tv
World Book Day: Weekend of Wonder
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of World Book Day, Camden Lock’s Stables, Hawley Wharf and Buck Street Market came together last weekend to hold a literary event to capture the imagination of bookworms of all ages.
No day out is complete without nosh, and food establishments across Camden’s markets created a special menu of limited-edition dishes straight out of the pages of children’s books. The BFG’s Frobscottle, Alice in Wonderland-inspired pancakes, Eat Me cookies and a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party brunch are among the many amazing culinary creations. Famous authors including Nicholas Allen and Konnie Huq read from their books on one of Camden’s iconic barges.
There was the chance to create World Book Day-inspired customised hats, T-shirts, shoes and more. Butterfly-winged stilt walkers created a giant version of the iconic character from The Hungry Caterpillar while face painting, caricature drawing and even a Hansel and Gretel treasure trail made it the perfect day out for all the family. Fancy dress of your favourite book character was encouraged! www.camdenmarket.com
Cinema: Interfaith love
A shortish (100 mins) but very sweet film, A Starry Sky Above the Roman Ghetto is showing at JW3 this week. The discovery of a photo and a letter in an old suitcase prompts a group of Jewish and Christian high school students to learn about the fate of the little girl in the picture – and of the Roman Jewish community to which she she belonged. Bursting with youthful energy, this charming drama looks back at Italy’s dark war years while celebrating the modern culture
of coexistence, tolerance and interfaith love. A young film for all ages. www.jw3.org
Dressing up: Marvellous Fashion
With the launch of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel season 4 comes all the memorabilia. The T-shirt is the most obvious way for fans to show their support of the stand-up housewife, but if you’re nifty with stitching and want to model a Midge creation, Etsy is selling a pattern for the dress costume designer Donna Zakowska made for Mrs M in season one. If you manage to pull it off (or on), show your creation on our Instagram @jewishnewsuk and tag @CostumeIndustryCoalition. www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1062680609
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