{"id":2250,"date":"2009-11-15T04:24:56","date_gmt":"2009-11-15T11:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=2250"},"modified":"2009-11-15T04:42:20","modified_gmt":"2009-11-15T11:42:20","slug":"sam-speigel-film-and-television-school-celebrates-20-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=2250","title":{"rendered":"Sam Speigel Film and Television School Celebrates 20 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Renen Schorr, Director of the Sam Speigel Film and Television School, opened the conference celebrating the school\u2019s 20th anniversary on Wednesday, November 11, by noting that Israeli cinema is not one entity \u2013 this diversity of perspectives, styles and opinions was reflected in the day\u2019s events as the invited filmmakers and scholars each expressed his or her vision for Israeli cinema.<\/p>\n

Ilan de Vries, one of the school\u2019s founders and Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque, said that the school was founded in Jerusalem \u201cout of a love of art as a way of life. In Jerusalem \u2013 a city of many languages , a heavy city in which its hard to be young and audacious,\u00a0in which the past and future are more important than the present. When founding the school we didn\u2019t know that in 20 years we find ourselves in a world that is digital, a world of globalization, dominated by the pixel. It is impossible to know where it will lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

De Vries reflected on the past 20 years of Israeli history saying, \u201c20 years ago we hoped that we would not be an occupying people. Our choices are not perfect, the occupation has made us less moral,\u201d and concluded by noting that \u201cPalestinian filmmakers are creating an alternative cinema \u2013 what is on the other side of the mirror? We need to have the courage to create art without compromises.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uri Klein, Haaretz film critic said, \u201cWhen I began writing about films in the 70s I wrote about HaBalash HaAmitz Schwartz (The Brave Detective Schwartz) by Ami Artzi (1973)\u2026In the past few weeks I\u2019ve written about Ajami, Lebanon and Five Hours from Paris \u2013 and the difference is tremendous\u2026Not all the movies made now are good and important and some of the movies made then \u2013 Moshe Mizrahi The House on Chelouche Street and Metzizim of Uri Zohar among others were very good films.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klein evoked one of Israeli cinema\u2019s respected figures, the late David Perlov, saying, \u201cOne of the most important statements was made by David Perlov in his diaries: to film through the window of your home as if it were the aperture of a tank. He created this instruction due to personal hardship \u2013 he was a great artist who could not make films.
\nThe connection between the window and the tank is like that of the personal and the collective, between what happens to me as an individual and to this place, this society, culture, history. The film Lebanon realizes this statement in the opposite way \u2013 a movie that, for me, closes a certain historical circle. David\u2019s diary was begun in 1973, at the time of the Yom Kippur war, Shmulik Maoz is dealing with a different war, in the early 80s, when David had stopped filming his diaries\u2026My wish for the future is that Israeli film will continue as it is today \u2013 fascinating, interesting, reflecting Israeli society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klein referred to an interview published in Haaretz with filmmaker Dover Kosashvili, saying, and \u201cI agree with Kosashvili that we should not become euphoric.\u201d Klein expressed his concern over the effect of co-productions on Israeli cinema that filmmakers will have \u201cone eye looking here and the other eye looking outward,\u201d becoming, as he termed it, \u201cculturally cross-eyed.\u201d Klein urged filmmakers, \u201cnow is the time to be daring, audacious, irreverent, dangerous, brave \u2013 not to be indifferent and complacent,\u201d saying, \u201cI do believe that films have the power to change thinking and consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filmmaker Ori Sivan, who created Saint Clara with Ari Folman in 1996 and later turned to television with the successful series:\u00a0 Florentine (1997), Saturdays and Holidays (2001), and In Treatment (2005), said that he feels that \u201cWe are now at the crest of the wave of realism in Israeli cinema, perhaps approaching the next thing.\u201d He expressed his perspective on realism in film saying, \u201cYou can use reality as a playground for film, you can tell a story that is not disconnected from reality, and yet not confined by it.\u201d Sivan punctuated his remarks by showing a short segment of Michelangelo Antonioni\u2019s 1970 film Zabriskie Point, saying, \u201cIts ok to create cinema that is a little more open.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Yael<\/a>
Yael Abecassis\/Photo: Yossi Zwecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Actor and producer Yael Abecassis spoke of her enthusiasm for creating films in Israel telling the students that she is available for student films and when asked by an audience member, even gave them her phone number.<\/p>\n

Joseph Cedar, maker of Beaufort (2007) said, \u201cIsraeli cinema is healthy and dynamic but I fear that it is unstable.\u201d Cedar cautioned that when filmmakers become too set in their ways it can lead to a decline. He focused on the specific conditions of creating cinema in a country such as Israel, asking, \u201cHow many films are too many for a small country?\u201d In terms of the development of Israeli cinema, Cedar placed an emphasis on creating an environment which allows filmmakers to mature and develop their craft, and the freedom to make mistakes, stressing the importance of continuity. Cedar expressed concern in terms of the \u201ctension between the local and the universal\u201d talking about the kind of film that tends to have \u201ca father in Germany, a brother in France and the drama somehow leads the main character to NY\u201d in the quest for international approval, saying: \u201cFilmmakers imagine their acceptance speech at Cannes, they are dreaming in French, but how many Israeli filmmakers are dreaming of the line at the box office at Cinema City (a large theatre complex in Ramat HaSharon)?<\/p>\n

Tawfik Abu Wael, creator of Atash (2004), said, \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to say that I feel connected, I am not part of Israeli cinema, I have a connection to private individuals. Where I come from making films is a crazy dream, there is no culture of art and cinema. Arabs don\u2019t see movies. I make movies for Israelis so that they will see them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wael said that he feels that filmmaking in Israel seems to cater to a particular taste, commenting, \u201cIt\u2019s not possible that all the heroes are so moral, left-wing\u2026I want to see a movie about two settlers in love on a mountaintop, fighting everyone.\u201d On a more pragmatic note he added, \u201cI\u2019d like to see 70% of the money allocated to filmmaking go to student films or people creating their first feature, I think it would bring about a revolution. Give 50% of the budget to student films and see what will happen in five years time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poet and scholar Zeli Gurevitch approached the topic from an entirely different direction, discussing the Hebrew language as it appears in film: \u201cThere is a struggle to achieve a natural quality to speech in Israeli film. It\u2019s a matter of having confidence in the language, which is something that, apparently takes time\u2026Hebrew is an impossible language, it cannot be spoken correctly. You need to know which mistakes to make. I would like to suggest that filmmakers think of the poetics of speech in film\u2026Israeli cinema should relate to poetry and not only to literature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Raya Morag, Assistant Professor of film in the Communications Department of the Hebrew University expressed her dismay at the under-representation of women in the conference. Indeed, there were only three women participating. Dr. Morag spoke of the trauma of the Intifada, with which Israeli film has not yet come to terms, comparing it to the Vietnam War in the US, which did not find its expression in film until many years after the war had ended.<\/p>\n

\"Shemi<\/a>
Shemi Zarhin, Ram Levi, Judd Ne'eman\/Photo: Yossi Zwecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Judd Neeman, filmmaker and researcher, who followed Morag, continued this theme, noting that it is 20 years to the Intifada as well as 20 years to Sam Speigel. Neeman said that at a certain point in his career, \u201cI stopped making films and started looking at them.\u201d Speaking of Israeli films of the 60s and 70s he said \u201cthe chill they exude seems to say \u2013 we don\u2019t want to feel anything\u2026what is this thing that we do not want to feel? He spoke of his childhood memories of wartime in Israel as \u201cthe kind of memory that creates trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neeman told the audience, \u201cWhat we do or do not do in our daily lives is far more important than film, film is just a reflection.\u201d Commenting on the changes that took place in his own filmmaking from Stretcher Drill (Masa Alunkot 1977) to Nuzhat (2006) he said, \u201cI opened up to my feminine side. I am not the same person I was in the 60s. As the sole representative of the lost generation of Israeli film \u2013 make artistic films!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dover<\/a>
Dover Kosashvili\/Photo: Yossi Zwecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The prize for \u201cmost controversial\u201d goes to Dover Kosashvili, creator of\u00a0 Late Marriage (2001), who said, \u201cThe success of Israeli films does not testify to its quality.\u201d Kosashvili\u2019s remarks generated quite a stir among the audience. Yael Abecassis challenged his claim asking, \u201cWhat about Waltz with Bashir, Ajami, Lebanon, Late Marriage?\u201d When asked about his approach to his own films, Kosashvili replied, \u201cI make films from a desire to create a masterpiece.\u201d His advice to Israeli film: \u201cLet\u2019s calm down, be a bit more modest, examine ourselves and think about how to make better movies.\u201d In a comment made after the session Kosashvili provided a more precise definition of what constitutes a good movie: \u201cUntil we have a Fellini we will not have a masterpiece.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reno Tzror, journalist and director, was more optimistic, saying, \u201cWe have great cinema, Dover,\u201d mentioning the movies Lebanon and Ajami as examples. Tzror expressed a wish that someone would make a film with an \u201cEthiopian Israeli as a high-tech tycoon and an Arab will be the most intellectual person in the area \u2013 let\u2019s try to think of changing things, to confront [the current reality\/stereotypes] through the use of images, and a different perspective. It is my great hope that one day roles will be changed, that an Ethiopian will not just play an Ethiopian\u2026when people see it once on the screen \u2013 the picture will change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actor\/singer Shuli Rand (Ushpizin 2004) called for the industry to pay more attention to actors who are \u201cthe most exposed and vulnerable on the set.\u201d Rand spoke of cinema from his personal perspective saying, \u201cI see a symbolism in the proximity of this place to the Western Wall\u2026why do you care? [in response to murmurs from the audience] I\u2019m a doss (Israeli slang for Orthodox Jew), I\u2019ll talk about whatever interests me.\u201d Rand continued in a more serious vein, \u201cOur trauma is our lack of connection with the Holy One, Blessed Be He, we have unsolved questions. We are missing the Holy One, Blessed Be He, in the frame. He will enter, He won\u2019t give up, and He\u2019s known to be fond of the media. We have a treasure here that has remained untouched. \u2026I have taken upon myself the Torah of Israel, I\u2019m like a tightrope walker [when making films], I\u2019m limited in what I can do, but that limitation can bring about creative solutions\u2026things on the level of Fellini.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ari<\/a>
Ari Folman, Shemi Zarhin\/Photo: Yossi Zwecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ari Folman, who wrote and directed Waltz With Bashir (2008) spoke of a futuristic vision of cinema saying, \u201cWe are in an age of silicon graphics, computers, saying \u2018Bye Bye\u2019 to an old world. [In the future] Movie makers will use image banks rather than actors. It sounds like science fiction, but that is what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renen Schorr, Director of the Sam Speigel School, said that \u201cA generous place has been devoted to the \u201cother\u201d in Israeli cinema, but it still does not make full use of the Israeli multi-location.\u201d Schorr called for filmmakers to create movies based on research, citing as examples Eran Riklis\u2019 The Syrian Bride (1999), the trilogy of movies on Lebanon, and Ajami. Schorr\u2019s own most recent film The Loners, is an example of this approach to filmmaking, a dramatic film based on an incident that took place in the Israeli military involving two soldiers who had immigrated to Israel on their own \u2013 hence the name \u201cloners.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schorr advocated \u201cCinema that is connected to the Israeli reality; influences and changes it.\u201d Speaking in favor of de-centralization, he recommended creating local film foundations and cinematheques, and stressed the importance of showing Israeli films in theatres and not only in festivals.<\/p>\n

\"Renen<\/a>
Renen Schorr\/Photo: Yossi Zwecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renen Schorr, Director of the Sam Speigel Film and Television School, opened the conference celebrating the school\u2019s 20th anniversary on Wednesday, November 11, by noting that Israeli cinema is not one entity \u2013 this diversity of perspectives, styles and opinions was reflected in the day\u2019s events as the invited filmmakers and scholars each expressed his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}