If Jellyfish whet your appetite for more filmic Israeli revelations, check out New York’s Storefront for Art and Architecture this week and next for a seductive film series probing the private areas of Israeli culture. With costumes and role-playing, these Tel Aviv filmmakers show how deeply linked sexual and personal identity is to the militarized, media-saturated landscape of the state of Israel.

In their video trilogy, Beyond Guilt (2004-2006), Ruti Sela and Maayan Amir get in front of the camera while picking up men in bars, bathrooms, through internet dating sites and call services to ask them about their attitudes towards sex. They even invite a prostitute to a hotel room and have her shoot a video of them. In Nothing Happened (2007), they follow a group of kids during a typical Tel Aviv night of chilling with prostitutes and impersonal hookups.

Another collection of shorts, Yossi Atia and Itamar Rose’s collection of satirical shorts, “Come to Israel: It’s hot and wet and we have the Humus,” satires race, gender, and sexuality. Taking on the roles of fictional characters, they interview random Israelis going about their business on the street, in the mall and picnicking in the park.

The films are playing nonstop today through April 18th. If you want more, catch Ari Libsker on Thursday, when he will be showing his shorts from London, Accra and Tel Aviv. And if you’re still fiending hot, wet humus, Libsker’s documentary, Stalags - Holocaust and pornography in Israel is opening at The Film Forum tomorrow.

Catch clips of Beyond Guilt here, Storefront intel here and Stalags showtimes here.

To be honest, I should have blogged about these guys much earlier than now. Chester French are real fresh creative makers of music and once my ‘lil siter made me listen to ‘She Loves Everybody’ and ‘Jimmy Choos,’ I knew they were worth the editorial space of every publication on earth.

D.A. and Max, a.k.a. Chester French, are a couple of music lovers who happened to go to Harvard university, where they joined forces to start making ‘Beach boy with a dash of N.E.R.D.’ flavour songs. That said, you may have your own take on who their influences may be, but the writing style, topics and the fashion in which they deliver their lyrics remind me of N.E.R.D. and I think The Beach Boys are a definite inspiration to their all-American, soul-filled, rhythmic but mellow melodies. Take a listen and decide for yourself if they intrigue you with their words and transcendent love for many musical genres.

Rolling Stone have them down as one of the seven music acts to watch out for in 2008 — and myself, Jermaine Dupri, kanye and Pharrell saw them coming and knew they were on fire long before!!! Signed to Star Trak Interscope, and releasing an album with absolute minimal influence from the non-musical execs, expect to get a taste of the world from Chester French.

For further album samples and more info, take a look here.