This course is a filmmaker’s voyage into the definition of Israeli identity as reflected in Israeli cinema and its central characters. Israeli films have always searched for the definition of what it is to be an Israeli. We will explore the definition of the new Israeli hero from Paul Newman as Ari Ben Canaan in “Exodus” personifying the new Israeli Jew all the way to the self- doubting, haunted Ari Folman in “Waltz with Bashir”. We will look at how the Sephardi Jews from Arab countries are looked down on in the cinema of the seventies and are searching for their identity today as well as how Israeli cinema has portrayed Arabs from straightforward enemies to possible partners. We will look at the ever-changing role of woman in Israeli films. We will also question the essence of Jewish identity in Israeli cinema and the effect 3,000 years of a complex history have on the modern day hero.