Volumes of Kolono’a

"This periodical was the first periodical in Hebrew solely dedicated to cinema and entertainment industry. Its first issue was published in August 17, 1939. It ceased publication during the 1960’s. This is a unique holding out of Israel. The presented article is about the first Israeli feature film in color, “Be-en Moledet” (i.e. “No Homeland”), directed by Nuri Habib. It was also the first Israeli movie to deal with Mizrahi Jews (then referred to as “Oriental Jews”)."

Volumes of Kolno’a (1939- ) are very rare and hard to get. I had the sheer luck to get in touch online with a private individual in Israel who had found this and additional 5 volumes of this periodical in his late Mother’s apartment. She was a cinema fan and kept those volumes in her possession until her last day. He agreed to sell them to the UT libraries, and kept them aside until my arrival to Israel for an acquisition trip during June 2016. I have landed on Saturday night; on Sunday afternoon I took a cab to Kefar Saba, a town near Tel Aviv, and made this unique acquisition. Later on, on the same trip, I managed to acquire additional volumes from an auction house in Haifa."

• Uri Kolodney, Hebrew, Jewish and Israel Studies Librarian