Representation – Liberating Cinema

Liberating CINEMA Representation

MASTERCLASS: AHMED EL MAANOUNI

22nd DECEMBER 2022

Liberating Cinema is honoured to announce a masterclass with the celebrated film director, screenwriter, producer and cinematographer Ahmed El Maanouni. The masterclass is preceded by a screening of the restoration of his film Alyam Alyam (1984), made available with the generous support of The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca Bologna.

Liberating Cinema would like to thank the Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-East England (CHASE), Arts and Humanities Research Council UK for sponsoring the programme and Goldsmiths, University of London for their organisational support.

The masterclass will take place on the 22nd December at the Institute for Contemporary Arts in London at 18:30pm UK time and afterwards you will have the unique opportunity to meet the filmmaker.

To book your place, visit the Institute for Contemporary Arts:

https://www.ica.art/films/alyam-alyam-masterclass-with-ahmed-el-maanouni

Ahmed El Maanouni is a writer, director, cinematographer and producer born in Casablanca. His work includes one of the most emblematic titles of Moroccan cinema, ALYAM ALYAM (1978), first Moroccan film to be selected in Cannes Film Festival and Grand Prize winner at Mannheim film festival. He caught international attention with TRANCES (Al Hal), presented by Martin Scorsese at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival—Cannes Classics.

ALYAM ALYAM and TRANCES, both restored by The Cinema Foundation Project, have been included into prestigious collections such as The Criterion Collection and Eureka, The Masters of Cinema. His film BURNED HEARTS (2007) Grand Prix winner at the National Film festival in Morocco, was awarded numerous international prizes. His comedy FADMA (2017) was awarded the Best Director’s Prize at the National Film Festival in Tangiers 2017 and premiered at the Vue d’Afrique Film Festival In Montreal, Canada.

He directs study groups and educational programs in Morocco and throughout the world. He has been honored with the title of Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in France.

MASTERCLASS: FABRICE ARAGNO

12th DECEMBER 2022

Liberating Cinema is delighted to host a masterclass with the visionary cinematographer, producer, and director Fabrice Aragno, pioneer of 3D technology and the director of photography of the late films of Jean Luc Godard.

The masterclass will take place on the 12th December at 17:00pm UK time via Zoom and afterwards you will have the opportunity to speak with the filmmaker.

Topic: MASTERCLASS: FABRICE ARAGNO (The Art of Cinematography)
Time: Dec 12, 2022 05:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87670592050?pwd=VHU4Q2N0STV0VW9CakNLZnlobHJLUT09

Meeting ID: 876 7059 2050
Passcode: 193025

Born in Neuchâtel in 1970, Fabrice Aragno studied directing at the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne. In 1999, his short film Dimanche was shown at the international film festival in Cannes.

Since 2002 he has been working with Jean-Luc Godard, first as assistant director for Notre musique (2003), then as cinematographer for Film socialisme (2010) and as cinematographer, sound engineer, editor and colorist for The Three Disasters (2013, a segment of 3x3D), Goodbye to Language (2014) and The Image Book (2018). The National Society of Film Critics nominated Aragno in the Best Cinematography category for Adieu au langage (2014).

He also edited and co-produced the films Amore carne (2011) and Sangue (2013) directed by Pippo Delbono, and directed Freddy Buache, le cinéma (2012).

In 2021, he curated the Swiss contribution to the Venice Biennale Architettura and served as cinematographer for Mitra Farahani’s documentary film See You Friday, Robinson (2021) that captures the correspondence between Godard and 100-year-old giant of Iranian cinema Ebrahim Golestan.

MASTERCLASS: LANA GOGOBERIDZE

28th SEPTEMBER 2022

Liberating Cinema is honoured to announce a masterclass with the extraordinary film director, screenwriter and poet Lana Gogoberidze. The masterclass is preceded by a digital screening of the restoration of her film Day Is Longer Than Night (1984), made available with the generous support of The Georgian National Film Center.

The masterclass will take place on the 28th September at 12:00pm UK time (15:00 Tbilisi, Georgia time) via Zoom and afterwards you will have the unique opportunity to speak with the filmmaker.

Topic: MASTERCLASS: LANA GOGOBERIDZE
Time: Sep 28, 2022 12:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/89258664861?pwd=STFEZUFUSEVuQ3pZY1dWODByNWJvQT09

Meeting ID: 892 5866 4861
Passcode: 063628

Lana Gogoberidze born in 1928 in Tbilisi, Georgia is a prolific director whose films primarily focus on the realistic, nonsentimental, portrayal of women’s lives. Gogoberidze’s films were selected and awarded at numerous film festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Tokyo). Her film Day Is Longer Than Night was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.

Before enrolling in the State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow, she attended the University of Tbilisi where she had originally planned on becoming a literary scholar. Lana Gogoberidze is known as a translator of poetry, translating and reading poems in French, English, Russian and Georgian.

From 1957, Mrs. Gogoberidze started working as film director at studio – Georgia Film. In 1975, she cofounded and headed Director’s Studio at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgian State University, among her students are famous Georgian directors Goderdzi Chokheli and Zaza Urushadze. In 1988, Lana Gogoberidze was elected a President of International Association of Women Directors with headquarters in London.

She has been jury member and chair at many international film festivals (Berlin, Oberhausen, Rio de Janeiro, Creteil, Jerusalem, San-Remo, Thessaloniki, Tbilisi, Mannheim). From 1992 to 1995 she was elected to the Parliament of Georgia and has been the Permanent Representative of Georgia to the Council of Europe since October 1999 and UNESCO since 2006. In 2004, she appointed as Georgia’s Ambassador to France. Lana Gogoberidze was one of the initiators to found National Film Center in Georgia, which is based on French model. In recognition of her efforts in filmmaking, poetry, translating and promoting Georgian-French friendship (as a chair of parliamentary group), Lana Gogoberidze received French National Order of the Legion of Honor in 1997.

She is the State Award of the USSR (1979) and State Award of Georgian SSR (1984) winner and honorary title holder of People’s Artist of Republic of Georgia and Order of Honor. In 2015, Lana was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to cinema at Tbilisi and Batumi IFFs. Lana Gogoberidze is an honorable president of Art International Women’s Association AIWA. She is a board member of Georgian Film Academy, member of presidium of European society of culture S.E.C.

Currently she is working on a documentary film about her mother Nutsa Gogoberidze.

MASTERCLASS: GORAN MARKOVIĆ

19th FEBRUARY 2022

Liberating Cinema in partnership with The Serbian Council of Great Britain (Serbian Month 2022) is honoured to announce a masterclass with the legendary director, screenwriter, author and playwright Goran Marković. The creator of classics such as National Class Category Up to 785 ccm, Variola Vera, Sabirni Centar, Tito and Me, and contemporary dramas such as The Tour and Delirium Tremens, this is a unique opportunity to participate in a creative discussion with the director.

The masterclass will take place on the 19th February at 18:00pm UK time via Zoom and afterwards you will have the opportunity to speak with the filmmaker.

Topic: MASTERCLASS: GORAN MARKOVIĆ
Time: Feb 19, 2022 06:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86929013373?pwd=NXRWTzkrdTFUbTVKbnBZUWRyL0Q1UT09

Meeting ID: 869 2901 3373
Passcode: 165215

Goran Marković was born in Belgrade on 24^th August 1946 to renowned artists Olivera and Rade Marković. After completing elementary education in his native city, he pursued higher education in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He studied, graduated, and obtained his masters from the coveted Film and TV Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) between 1965 and 1970.

Upon completion of his studies, he went on to produce documentary films for television from 1970 to 1976. He shot and directed over fifty films, several of which stand out for their provocative approach to form as well as their bold subject matter.

In 1976 Goran begins to write and direct feature films. He has directed fifteen feature films, mostly from his own screenplays, and three television series to date.

He has worked at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDU) of the University of Belgrade since 1978, when he began as an apprentice under the tutelage of Professor Radoš Novaković. During his tenure at the Faculty, he served as Lecturer in the subject Working with Actors and then as Professor, and currently Professor Emeritus, in Film Directing. He served several terms as Head of Department for Directing in Film and Television and member of the university council. He was a two-time Visiting Professor at Columbia University, New York, in 1984 and 2012 and served in the same capacity at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, from 2010 to 2012. Since 2017 he has been teaching the subject ‘The Poetics of the Great Film Directors’ on the Doctoral Studies Program at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. He also acts as a supervisor for PhD candidates at the Academy.

Three retrospectives of Goran Marković’s work were presented in France: in La Rochelle in 1986, Montpellier in 1988 and Strasbourg in 1991. Four of Marković’s films featured as part of the great retrospective of Yugoslav cinema organized by the Pompidou Centre in Paris in 1987. In 2002 full retrospectives of his work were presented by the International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the Slovenian Cinematheque in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the Croatian Film Archive in Zagreb, Croatia. In 2008 a full retrospective of his films followed in Kiev, Ukraine.

Goran Marković served as the President of the International Jury at the Montpellier International Film Festival (France) in 1991. He was a Member of the International Jury at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Greece) in 1995, the Jerusalem Film Festival (Israel) in 2009, and the Orenburg International Film Festival (Russia) in 2013. He has served on numerous juries for film and theatre festivals in Yugoslavia and Serbia.

From 1986 he begins to write and direct plays for the theatre. He has written eleven plays and directed as many, both from his own writing and from other playwrights. In 1997 he received The Jovan Sterija Popović Award for Best Dramatic Work for his play Turneja from the Sterijino pozoroje theatre festival at the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad.

Goran has written eight books: three novels, two volumes of diary prose, two non-fiction titles and one collection of drama.

He is a two-time recipient of the Annual Prize for Cinema of the City of Belgrade, the first time for his film Variola Vera in 1983 and the second for The Cordon in 2002. Since 1986 he has been represented in the Dictionary of Film published by Librairie Larousse and since 2007 in 501 Movie Directors, the comprehensive guide to the world’s leading film directors, published by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. In 2012 he was bestowed with the French Order of Officier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres. The Film Center of Serbia published a monograph of Goran’s work under the title Nacionalna klasa/National Class. In 2020 he received The Lifetime Achievement Award from the Film Artists’ Association of Serbia. In 2021 he received The Gordan Mihić Golden Pen Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Screenwriting Film Festival in Vrnjačka Banja and The Živojin Pavlović Lifetime Achievement Award at the LIFFE Leskovac Festival of Film Direction. This year he received The Lifetime Achievement Award at the Auteur Film Festival in Belgrade.

MASTERCLASS: PEDRO COSTA

20th December 2021

Liberating Cinema is delighted to announce a masterclass with the great director Pedro Costa. The masterclass is preceded by a screening of his film Vitalina Varela (2019), Winner of the Golden Leopard in Locarno. The film is made available with the generous support of Second Run.

To watch the film send us a message through our website Contact Form with the subject RSVP Vitalina.

The masterclass will take place on the 20th December at 10:00am UK time via Zoom and afterwards you will have the opportunity to engage in a creative discussion with the filmmaker.

Topic: MASTERCLASS: PEDRO COSTA

Time: Dec 20, 2021 10:00 AM London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83939002766?pwd=UlhmK25hdEpWUXF4ZU04Um9WTS9NZz09

Meeting ID: 839 3900 2766

Passcode: 173657

Born in Lisbon, Pedro left his course of studies in History to attend classes taught by the poet and filmmaker António Reis at the Lisbon Film School. His first film O Sangue / Blood had its world premiere at the Mostra Cinematografica di Venezia, in 1989. Casa de Lava, his second feature, shot in Cabo Verde, screened in Cannes, in 1994. The following Ossos / Bones was awarded an Osella d’Oro in Venice, in 1997. His other feature films include In Vanda’s Room and Where does your hidden smile lie? on the work of Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub and Ne change rien, with Jeanne Balibar. Cavalo Dinheiro / Horse Money was awarded the Leopard for Best Direction at the Locarno Film Festival, in 2014.

His latest feature, Vitalina Varela won the Golden Leopard and the Best Actress Prize at the same festival, in 2019. His work is regularly presented in Cinematheques and Museums around the world.

Filmography
1987 – CARTAS A JULIA, short
1990 – O SANGUE / BLOOD
1994 – CASA DE LAVA
1997 – OSSOS / BONES
2000 – NO QUARTO DA VANDA / IN VANDA’S ROOM
2001 – DANIÈLE HUILLET, JEAN-MARIE STRAUB, CINÉASTES episode of the series
CINÉASTES, DE NOTRE TEMPS
2002 – ONDE JAZ O TEU SORRISO? / OÙ GÎT VOTRE SOURIRE ENFOUI? / WHERE DOES YOUR
HIDDEN SMILE LIE?
2003 – 6 BAGATELAS, short
2006 – JUVENTUDE EM MARCHA / COLOSSAL YOUTH
2007 – TARRAFAL, short in O ESTADO DO MUNDO / THE STATE OF THE WORLD
2007 – THE RABBIT HUNTERS, short in MEMORIES, JEONJU DIGITAL PROJECT
2009 – NE CHANGE RIEN
2010 – O NOSSO HOMEM / OUR MAN, short
2012 – SWEET EXORCIST, short in CENTRO HISTÓRICO
2014 – CAVALO DINHEIRO / HORSE MONEY
2019 – VITALINA VARELA

MASTERCLASS: YELENA POPOVIC

25th october 2021

Liberating Cinema is delighted to announce a masterclass with Yelena Popovic, master filmmaker and director of Man of God (2021). The masterclass forms a central part of The Liberating Cinema Film Series programme focus on Faith and Film.

The masterclass will take place on the 25th October at 18:00 UK time via Zoom and afterwards you will have the opportunity to engage in a creative discussion with the filmmaker.

Mina Radovic is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: MASTERCLASS: YELENA POPOVIC
Time: Oct 25, 2021 06:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89202714519?pwd=ZmRaVnJLWVl2SEZRYWQzNzQwNzZvZz09

Meeting ID: 892 0271 4519
Passcode: 295302

Yelena Popovic is a Serbian American actress, writer, director, and producer. She wrote and directed “Man of God” about the trials and tribulations of St Nektarios of Aegina, as he bears the unjust hatred of his enemies preaching the word of God. The film stars Aris Servetalis, Alexander Petrov, and Mickey Rourke and Liberating Cinema selected it on its programme as the most important film about faith since the work of Andrei Tarkovsky.

Yelena wrote and directed her feature debut, the 2013 NYIIFVF Audience Award Winner, “L.A. Superheroes”. Popovic produced “Monday Nights at Seven” starring Edward James Olmos through her company Simeon Entertainment and has several other active projects in development including Dead Serious, Greta Garbo and Moses the Black.

She studied at Playhouse West, an industry-recognized premier acting school and training ground for actors, writers, and directors, founded by Robert Carnegie and Jeff Goldblum.

See Official Trailer for Man of God (Yelena Popovic, Greece, 2021)

MASTERCLASS: SHYAM BENEGAL

9th AUGUST 2021

Liberating Cinema is honoured to announce a masterclass with master director Shyam Benegal. The masterclass is preceded by a screening of his film Manthan (1976) as part of The Liberating Cinema Film Series programme on India: A New Kind of Parallel Cinema. The film will be made available from the 4th August to view via our website, with the generous support of the National Film Archive of India.

SEE MANTHAN (Shyam Benegal, India, 1976) NFAI LINK TO FILM EMBEDDED BELOW.

The masterclass will take place on the 9th August at 10:30 GMT – 15:00 IST – via Zoom and afterwards you will have the opportunity to engage in a creative discussion with the filmmaker.

Mina Radovic is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: MASTERCLASS: SHYAM BENEGAL
Time: Aug 9, 2021 10:30 AM Greenwich Mean Time

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84912523215?pwd=NUpGNWZJK3Evd3RqMzRIbDVyUXgrZz09

Meeting ID: 849 1252 3215
Passcode: 838536
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,84912523215#,,,,*838536# US (Houston)
+16465588656,,84912523215#,,,,*838536# US (New York)

Dial by your location
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 720 707 2699 US (Denver)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 849 1252 3215
Passcode: 838536
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kc5RyTJ4Dx

Shyam Benegal’s career started with a job as a copywriter in advertising from where he graduated to become the Creative & Accounts Group Head before becoming a full time filmmaker. He has lectured at many institutions in India and abroad as well as participated in seminars on subjects dealing with Cinema, Television, Information Technology and different aspects of social and cultural change.

He has made 26 fiction features for the Cinema, several documentaries and TV series, notably a 53 hour TV series on the History of India entitled Bharat Ek Khoj and Samvidhaan on the making of the Indian Constitution (10 hours) for the Rajya Sabha (The Upper House of the Indian Parliament).

Practically all his films have won national awards and several of them have been awarded internationally. Shyam Benegal was a Homi Bhabha fellow (1970-72) during which time, he studied Children’s Television with CTW in New York and worked as Associate Producer with WGBH, Boston.

The Government of India has conferred on him two of its most prestigious awards – Padma Shri in 1976 and Padma Bhushan 1991. He is also the recipient of Indira Gandhi National Integration Award, 2004, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement 2005. In 2007, he was conferred with a D.Litt (Honoris Causa) from the Jamia Millia University, New Delhi and also from University of Calcutta in 2011.

Shyam Benegal runs a film production company in Mumbai and was a Member of Parliament, (Rajya Sabha, from 2006 to 2012).

In Memory of Mr Kiran Dhiwar, Film Preservation Officer, National Film Archive of India.

MASTERCLASS: MARIJAN ŽIVANOVIĆ

28TH JUNE 2021

The livestream and information about the masterclass will be made available shortly.

MASTERCLASS: NARGES ABYAR

5th APRIL 2021

Liberating Cinema is pleased to announce a masterclass with Iranian director Narges Abyar preceded by a screening of her film Nafas/Breath (2016). The film will be made available from the 30th March to view via our website, courtesy of Iranian Independents. The masterclass will take place on the 6th April at 18:00 GMT via Zoom and afterwards you will have the opportunity to engage in a creative discussion with the filmmaker.

Mina Radovic is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: MASTERCLASS: NARGES ABYAR

Time: Apr 5, 2021 06:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/99288755037?pwd=WTFaRER5azJ0cFl1MVRZVzNocFJyUT09

Meeting ID: 992 8875 5037

Passcode: 260017

Narges Abyar graduated in Persian literature; she started writing books in 1997. Up to the present, she has written more than thirty story and fiction books for children, young adults and adults. She was selected as an Oscar Academy member on 2020.

Her famous novels are namely:

- Mountain on the Shoulder of the Tree
- A Boy with insatiable worms on his body
- Third Eye
- The Legend of A Skinny Spring
- It Was Neither a Day Nor a Night
- The Poems of a Sky-clad Fish
- Story of Two Fives
- The Agitated Existence of a Prosperous Idol

She has written and directed five drama films. Her recent film is called, Pinto. She had also made several short and feature-length documentaries since 2005. Her first experience was a fiction film called “The Kind Dead-End”. She pursued her directing career further with seven features and documentaries and four cinema films, as listed below:

The Kind Dead-End (fiction 2006)
The story of a believable story (fiction 2007)
One day after the tenth day (documentary 2007)
Winner of the Best Documentary; Ismaili Festival, Egypt
Winner of the Grand Prize; Batumi Festival, Georgia
Winner of the Cinematic Success Award; AZA Festival, Greece
Received Diploma of Honor; Iguana Festival, Italy
Participated in the thirty-five World Festivals

The Day of the End (Documentary 2008)
Winner of the Best Documentary, Cinema Verite Festival, Iran

Mother of the City (documentary 2008)
Winner of the Best Film Award and Best Semi-long Script, Yazd Short Film Festival, Iran

Ulcer,( Nasur ) (fiction 2009)
Winner of the Best Film; Three Decades of Presence Festival, Iran
Attending the Plant Focus Festival, Greece
Attending the Dhaka Lit Fest, Bangladesh

Shirpooshan, (documentary 2010)
Nominated for the Best Documentary Award; Grand Ave Festival, Poland

Objects In Mirror (2013)
Nominated in the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), Shanghai, China
Nominated in the 30th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPF), United States,
Nominated in the Heartland International Film Festival, USA, 2014
Winner of the Audience Award and Best Actress Award; Silver Akbuzat Film Festival, UFA RUSSIA, 2014
Winner of the Best Film Prize; Festival International de Films de Femmes de Créteil, France, 2015

Track 143 (2014)
Nominated for seven awards and winner of three Crystal Simorghs of the Audience Award, Jury Special Award and Best Actress; 32nd Fajr Film Festival, Iran.
Winner of the Audience choice award and the Jury Special Actress Award; 1st Reel Sydney Festival of World Cinema, Australia
Winner of the Best Direction & Best Actress Award; 8th International Film festival, “East-West” Orenburg, Russia
Winner of the Jury’s Special Award; Volokolamsky Rubezh international film festival, 2015, Russia
Winner of the Best Women Film Award; 8th Jaipur Int’l Film Festival, 2016, India
Winner of the Best Women Film Award, 14th Dhaka Int’l Film Festival, 2016, Bangladesh
Winner of the Best Film Award; Golden Tower International Film Festival, Ingushetia, Russia 2015
Winner of the Best Film Award; BUSAN International Film Festival, KOREA , 2014

Breath (2016)
Selected as the Iranian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90thAcademy Awards
Winner of the Best Director Awards; 20th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Estonia
Winner of the Special Jury Award and Best Actress Award; Fajr International Film Festival
Winner of the Best Director Award and Best Actor of Children and Youth Award; 24th Minsk Film Festival, Belarus
Winner of the Crystal Simorgh of the Best Film in the National View; 34th Fajr Film Festival, Iran
Winner of the Crystal Simorgh for the Best Supporting Actress, 34th Fajr Film Festival, Iran
Winner of the Statue of Best Supporting Actress; Celebration of Iran’s Criticts and Writers Association
Winner the Best Children’s Film Award; 10th Asia Pacific Film Award, Australia-
Winner the Best Actress Award, Best Director and Best Actor of Children and Youth; 1st Iranian Film Festival in Wisconsin, USA
Attendance at the 15th Pune Film Festival, India
Attendance at the 8th Sofia Film Festival in Bulgaria
Attendance at the Iranian Film Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
Attendance at the 27th Iranian Film Festival, Chicago, USA

When the Moon Was Full (2019)
Winner of six Crystal Simorgh of the Best Film, the Best Director, the Best Actor, the Best Actress, the Best Supporting Actress and the Best Makeup Award; 37th fair film festival and nominated for seven Crystal Simorgh in other sections of this festival
Winner of the Audience Award in the 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn, Estonia
Winner of the Jury’s Grand Prize, The Student Award and The Best Performance Award; Carcassonne International Political Film Festival, 2019 France
Nominated for Merit Statue in fourteen sections of competition and given the “record of most nominated” in 21st House of Cinema, Iran
Winner of three Merit Statues; 21st House of Cinema, Iran

Judging records at film festivals:

Member of the Oscar Academy, 2020
Member of the jury of the 37th Fajr National Film Festival, 2020
Member of the jury of the 38th Fajr International Film Festival, 2019
Member of the Jury of the 25th Listapad Film Festival in Minsk, Belarus, 2018
Member of the jury of the 15th Pune International Film Festival in India, 2017

MASTERCLASS: AMOS GITAI

14th DECEMBER 2020

Liberating Cinema is delighted to host its first class with master filmmaker Amos Gitaï preceded by a screening of his film Rabin, The Last Day (2015). The film will be made available from the 7th December to view via our website. The masterclass will take place on the 14th December via Zoom and afterwards you will have the opportunity to engage in a creative discussion with the filmmaker.

Mina Radovic is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: MASTERCLASS: AMOS GITAI

Time: Dec 14, 2020 06:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/98405578457?pwd=aDNzcUp2UStLaWZ3TzN4U0xkanZHdz09

Meeting ID: 984 0557 8457

Passcode: 173751

*PLEASE JOIN ON TIME AS PARTICIPATION NUMBERS ARE LIMITED*

Amos Gitaï was born in 1950 in Haifa (Israel). He is the son of the Bauhaus-trained architect, Munio Weinraub, who fled the Nazi regime in 1933, and the intellectual and teacher, Efratia Gitaï, a non-religious expert on Biblical texts, who was born in Palestine in the early 20th century. He belongs to the first generation born after the foundation of the State of Israel, which was also strongly influenced by the major anti-establishment youth movements of the 1960s.

While still a student studying architecture, Gitaï was wounded during the Yom Kippur War (1973), when a medical evacuation helicopter in which he was traveling was hit by a Syrian missile. His entire œuvre then went on to draw inspiration from these biographical, family and generational themes, as well as the trauma he suffered during the war, and the sense of a victorious life.

After receiving a PhD in architecture from the University of Berkeley (California), Amos Gitaï devoted his first film, House (1980), to the construction of a house in West Jerusalem. This documentary, which was immediately banned in Israel, set the tone for the filmmaker’s antagonistic relationship with the authorities in his country, which was soon exacerbated by the fresh controversy provoked by his film Field Diary (1982). Gitaï settled in Paris and shot several films, both fictional works and documentaries, including Esther (1986), Berlin-Jerusalem (1989) and Golem, the Spirit of Exile (1991).

Amos Gitaï returned to Israel in 1993, the year in which the peace agreements championed by Yitzhak Rabin were signed in Washington. He directed a three-city trilogy: Devarim, shot in Tel Aviv (1995), Yom Yom in Haifa (1998) and Kadosh in Jerusalem (1999). Four of his films were shown in competition at the Cannes Film Festival (Kadosh, Kippur, Kedma, and Free Zone), and a further six at the Mostra in Venice (Berlin-Jerusalem, Eden, Alila, Promised Land, Ana Arabia, and Yitzhak Rabin: the Last Day).

In 2010, he published his mother Efratia’s correspondence¹, which was read by Jeanne Moreau at the Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe and on the France Culture radio station. In April 2018, the filmmaker donated his entire paper and digital archive of almost 30,000 items on Yitzhak Rabin to the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF). On 8th October 2018, a performance of Yitzhak Rabin: Chronicle of an Assassination Foretold, which was developed for the Festival d’Avignon in 2016, will be presented at the Philharmonie de Paris, notably featuring the soprano Barbara Hendricks.
Amos Gitaï’s work has received numerous awards, including a Leopard of Honour in Locarno for his lifetime’s work (2008), the Roberto Rossellini Prize (2005), the Robert Bresson Prize (2013), and the Paradjanov Prize (2014). He has been awarded the distinctions of officier des Arts et Lettres and chevalier de la Légion d’honneur.

Retrospectives of his complete works have been presented at numerous institutions worldwide: Centre Pompidou; Cinémathèque française; Jerusalem Cinematheque; New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA); Lincoln Center (New York); British Film Institute (London); Museo Reina Sofia (Madrid); Mostra São Paulo; State Film Museum (Moscow); Japan Film Institute (Tokyo).

¹ Efratia Gitaï, Correspondance (1929-1994), translated from Hebrew by Katherine Werchowski. Édition de Rivka Gitaï, Collection Haute Enfance, Gallimard, 2010.

Biography Source: Collège de France, Paris