Reality and Reflection. Portrait Segments: Two Israeli Artists

28 Minutes, 1970
Genre:
Documentary

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Directed by: Benjamin Haim
Production Company:Shavt Films
Photographer: Amnon Salomon
Language: Hebrew
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A documentary diptych exploring the work of two major Israeli painters of the same generation: Yohanan Simon and David Hendler. The film was commissioned by public broadcaster Channel 1, and directed by Benjamin Haim who was also behind the 1976 indie film, The Black Banana. In Reality and Reflection, Haim delves deep into both artists’ creative processes and distinctive traits: Simon, the cosmopolitan intellectual, was working in bold colours and leaning heavily into a figurative surrealist aesthetic at the time the film was made, following a long period of depicting kibbutz life in his earlier works; whereas Hendler who was famously the more lyrical of the two, was renowned for his clear-yet-refined black lines in his figurative sketches.
The meeting with Simon takes place in the affluent suburb of Kfar Shmaryahu where he and his second wife, haute couturier Finny Leitersdorf live. The David Hendler interview, meanwhile, is held in Tel Aviv and also features esteemed artist Aviva Uri, a highly influential figure who was Hendler’s primary model and later also his partner.
Reality and Reflection was produced with the help of experimental artist and cultural figure Joav BarEl who served as a consultant on the film. Between 1971-1972, BarEl developed and created a series of films for Channel 1, along with filmmaker and avantgarde artist Jacques Katmor and cinematographer, Amnon Solomon. Their films were steeped in the art and critical thinking of their time, focusing on a range of working artists (male and female) and their artistic oeuvre.

Related topics:
Mevo’ot - The Joav BarEl Ideas Foundation

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