FEATURE FILM
Carmel
An intimate account and reflection about war that incorporates autobiographical, fiction, and personal archive elements, including the letters of Efratia Gitai.
PRESS
The film portrays the contradictions and complexities inherent to Israel and its history. Using Jeanne Moreau’s voice as a chorus in voice-over, Gitai creates a kaleidoscope of images and associations from the distant Jewish past and the Israeli present. The first images show the ancient battle for Jerusalem between Romans and Hebrews. We are then transported to a present-day Israeli army camp. We learn that Gitai’s son is engaged in the fighting and that he worries for his safety. As these ancient and modern wars unfold, the director introduces his mother’s memories through letters she sent him when she was in London in the 1960s.
Carmel is a cinematic poem comprised of sequences and incidents that, although carefully selected, are not intended to create a linear narrative. It seems as though order is impossible in the world Gitai sees around him.
Piers Handling, Toronto International Film Festival, 2009
FESTIVALS
• Toronto International Film Festival 2009
• Haifa Film Festival 2009
CREDITS
Screenplay Amos Gitai
Cinematography Stefano Falivene
Sound Michel Kharat, Aviv Aldema, Stéphane Thiébaut
Editing Isabelle Ingold
Production design Miguel Markin
Cast Keren Mor, Makram Khoury, Ben Gitai, Keren Gitai, Assi Dayan, Amos Lavie, Rivka Gitai, Hillel Luski, Amos Gitai And the voices of Jeanne Moreau, Jerome Koenig, Samuel Fuller, Enrico Lo Verso, Macha Itkina
Production Agav Films, Inter Europe, Global Media, Hamon Hafakot (Israel)
Executive producers Michael Tapuach, Laurent Truchot
Producers Amos Gitai, Michael Tapuach, Laurent Truchot, Augustus Pelliccia
An intimate account and reflection about war that incorporates autobiographical, fiction, and personal archive elements, including the letters of Efratia Gitai.
PRESS
The film portrays the contradictions and complexities inherent to Israel and its history. Using Jeanne Moreau’s voice as a chorus in voice-over, Gitai creates a kaleidoscope of images and associations from the distant Jewish past and the Israeli present. The first images show the ancient battle for Jerusalem between Romans and Hebrews. We are then transported to a present-day Israeli army camp. We learn that Gitai’s son is engaged in the fighting and that he worries for his safety. As these ancient and modern wars unfold, the director introduces his mother’s memories through letters she sent him when she was in London in the 1960s.
Carmel is a cinematic poem comprised of sequences and incidents that, although carefully selected, are not intended to create a linear narrative. It seems as though order is impossible in the world Gitai sees around him.
Piers Handling, Toronto International Film Festival, 2009
FESTIVALS
• Toronto International Film Festival 2009
• Haifa Film Festival 2009
CREDITS
Screenplay Amos Gitai
Cinematography Stefano Falivene
Sound Michel Kharat, Aviv Aldema, Stéphane Thiébaut
Editing Isabelle Ingold
Production design Miguel Markin
Cast Keren Mor, Makram Khoury, Ben Gitai, Keren Gitai, Assi Dayan, Amos Lavie, Rivka Gitai, Hillel Luski, Amos Gitai And the voices of Jeanne Moreau, Jerome Koenig, Samuel Fuller, Enrico Lo Verso, Macha Itkina
Production Agav Films, Inter Europe, Global Media, Hamon Hafakot (Israel)
Executive producers Michael Tapuach, Laurent Truchot
Producers Amos Gitai, Michael Tapuach, Laurent Truchot, Augustus Pelliccia
SALES / DISTRIBUTION
AGAV FILMS
6, cour Berard. 75004 Paris – France
+33 (0)1 42 40 48 45
agav@amosgitai.com
SALES / DISTRIBUTION
