Berlin-Jerusalem
Berlin-Jerusalem DVD cover.
Directed byAmos Gitai
Produced byMarek Rozenbaum
Starring
Music byMarkus Stockhausen
Simon Stockhausen
Distributed byFacets Multi-Media
Release dates
  • 13 September 1989 (United Kingdom)
  • 14 March 1990 (France)
  • 7 December 1990 (Israel)
  • 13 December 1991 (the Netherlands)
  • 22 February 1992 (Germany)
Running time
89 minutes
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • France
  • Israel
  • The Netherlands
  • Italy
Languages

Berlin-Jerusalem (Hebrew: ברלין ירושלים, tr. Berlin Yerushalayim) is an 89-minute 1989 British-Dutch-French-Israeli-Italian English-, French-, German-, and Hebrew-language independent underground dramatic historical experimental art film directed by Amos Gitai.

Synopsis

The film tells the story of two women in the 1930s. The first, Else Lasker-Schüler (Lisa Kreuzer), a German expressionist poet, observes the rise of Nazism in Berlin before leaving for Jerusalem. The second, the Russian Manya Shochat (Rivka Neumann), called Tania in the film, settles in a community in Israel.

Production

The film was produced by Marek Rozenbaum [he; pl], includes the artistic contributions of Pina Bausch and was inspired by the paintings of George Grosz, was financed by the Italian public television, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting, La Sept, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s UK Government Investments’s Channel Four Television Corporation’s Film4 Productions, the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, and Le Volcan [fr; pl; pt; tr], was distributed by Facets Multi-Media, was shot by Henri Alekan and Nurith Aviv, was edited by Marco Melani [it], Antoine Bonfanti, Michel Klochendler [fr], and Luc Barnier [de; fr; pt], was cast by Levia Hon [he], and also stars inter alia Markus Stockhausen (who also composed the score together with Simon Stockhausen), Vernon Dobtcheff, Veronica Lazăr, Bernard Eisenschitz, Yossi Graber [he], Juliano Mer-Khamis, Mark Ivanir, Keren Mor, Ori Levy [he], and Ohad Shahar.[1][2][3][4][5]

Reception

Amos Gitai (April 2011)

The film was screened at the 46th Venice International Film Festival during September 1989 (where it won several awards and was nominated for the Golden Lion), at the 1990 International Istanbul Film Festival/!f İstanbul Uluslararası Bağımsız Filmler Festivali [tr] (where it also won several awards) and International Film Festival Rotterdam, at the British Film Institute’s 1989 BFI London Film Festival, at the 1989 Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September 1989, at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival on 22 February 1992, and at the 1998 São Paulo International Film Festival. The journalist Daniel Warth has opined that “although the film is minimalistic, it is nonetheless ravishing.”[6] The film was released in Israel, where it was released to the general public by Nurith Shani [he]’s Shani Films [he] and the Tel Aviv Cinematheque on 7 December 1990 (the film was released on 14 March 1990 in France and on 13 December 1991 in the Netherlands), together with Esther (1986) as part of a DVD boxset in 2005.[7]

References

  1. ^ Kronish, Amy W.; Safirman, Costel (May 2003). Israeli Film: A Reference Guid e. Reference Guides to the World’s Cinema. Westport, Connecticut and London: Greenwood Publishing Group and Praeger. pp. 32–33. ISBN 9780313321443. OCLC 845524002. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  2. ^ Gross, Natan (1991). הסרט העברי – פרקים בתולדות הראינוע והקולנוע בישראל: 1896–1991 [The Hebrew Film – Chapters in the Annals of Silent and Sound Cinema in Israel: 1896–1991] (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Natan and Yaacov Gross. p. 446. OCLC 27221790. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  3. ^ Handler, Deborah (2004). ייצוגה של ירושלים בקולנוע הישראלי [Representations of Jerusalem in Israeli Cinema] (PDF). Tallelei Orot (in Hebrew). Vol. 11. Orot Israel College of Education. pp. 276, 281. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  4. ^ Kaufman, Deborah; Plotkin, Janis; Orenstein, Rena, eds. (1991). "Berlin-Jerusalem". A Guide to Films Featured in the Jewish Film Festival. Berkeley, California: Jewish Film Festival. p. 15. OCLC 25527469. Retrieved 30 September 2018. Reprinted in: Plotkin, Janis; Libresco, Caroline; Feiger, Josh, eds. (1996). Independent Jewish Film: A Resource Guide (3rd ed.). San Francisco, California: San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. p. 46. ISBN 9780965068802. OCLC 36119531. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  5. ^ Schweitzer, Ariel. עמוס גיתאי [Amos Gitai]. Cinema of Israel (in Hebrew). Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  6. ^ Warth, Daniel (14 December 1990). תפיסות מנוגדות [Conflicting Visions] (PDF). Ha’ir (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  7. ^ Gitai, Amos (2005). ברלין ירושלים [Berlin-Jerusalem] (DVD) (in French, German, and Hebrew). Ramat HaSharon: Globus United King Films. OCLC 920667873.

Sources

External links

Films directed by Amos Gitai
Categories