Golem, the Spirit of Exile

To recount the story of a woman and her sisters forced into exile after the death of their husbands, the filmmaker and screenplay writer Amos Gitai sought inspiration from the Biblical character of Ruth and from the interpretation of the Golem - the mythical Jewish creature – according to the Spanish Kabala, which identifies it with exile and migrations. The feeling behind the story is highly autobiographical. The film was shot in Paris, where Gitai was living in a sort of self-exile following the ban on his documentary Field Diary (1982) in his home country, Israel. The genius behind this film is that it manages to convey its spiritual sense into awe-striking images, thus creating a poetic language that vividly captures the script’s dramatic impact, while also bringing it up-to-date as the story is set in modern day Paris. The central issue in Gitai’s film is the process of delocalization and unrooting, a recurring theme in the director’s works about the Golem legend.

Born in Haifa, Israel, in 1950. His works are presented at Mostra since the 20 th edition, in 1996, with The Arena of Murder. In 2004, at the 28 th Mostra, he was honored with an exhibition of his photos, the publishing of a book and a complete retrospective of his films, including Kadosh (1999) and Kedma (2002, awarded with the Critics Prize at the 26 th Mostra). He directed a short film in the collective project Welcome to São Paulo (2004), produced by Mostra. He has also directed Free Zone (2005), Disengagement (2007) and Ana Arabia (2013). Gitai won the Humanity Award at the 31 st Mostra, in 2007. The director also presented at the 38 th Mostra with the films Tsili (2014) and Words with Gods (2014). He exhibited at the 41 st Mostra the feature film West of the Jordan River (2017).

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA