Bait Be Yerushalayim

A documentary in which the director revisits, twenty years later, the theme of one of his first films (House, 1978) made for the Israeli TV and banned at the time. The film is again set in Jerusalem in the same house as the first, and its symbolic importance becomes clearer as its past and present owners are interviewed, as well as the neighbors and residents of the area. Originally, the house belonged to a Palestinian family, the Dejanis, who were evicted. Its ownership was later transferred to several Israeli families, who occupied this part of Jerusalem and today are affected by the constant instability of the area. Each new resident becomes like a metaphor for the upheavals of everyday life in Israel. Gitai interviews both evicted Arabs, longing for a more peaceful future, and Jews, who have nothing against them but nevertheless come to live in their houses. In a scene of the film, Gitai asks an American tourist about the meaning of the street name and ends up being criticized by him for “trying to find politics behind everything”. The director seems to disagree with the American’ viewpoint. His films depict the small details of everyday life within the broader context of the world.

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