A History of Israeli Cinema (DVD)

Raphaël Nadjari’s extraordinary two-part documentary weaves together clips from more than 70 years of Israeli film with commentary from filmmakers, scholars and critics — including Amos Gitai, Joseph Cedar, Avi Mograbi, Yehuda Ne’eman, Menachem Golan, Moshe Ivgy, Ronit Elkabetz and Zeev Revach. Crafted for both insiders and outsiders, the film traces the evolution of the country’s cinema alongside political and social history: part one spans the years 1933 to 1978, covering the overlap between the Zionist struggle to form a state and the propagandistic qualities of revolutionary cinema; part two, the shift to reality-based filmmaking in the late 70s, and the transition from the political films of the 80s to the more personal cinema of today. The most comprehensive and compelling record of the subject ever attempted, Nadjari’s film reveals a cinematic national identity that is inextricably linked to the ever-changing emotional reality of the country.