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Out of Evil, whose production began in 1947, was shot during combat hiatuses throughout the War of Independence and was only released in 1950, well after the founding of the State of Israel. The plot is based on the similarly titled short film by director Helmar Lerski and puppet theatre director, Paul Levy. Owing to the short’s success, United Israel Appeal gave a lot of money (by pre-Israel film production standards) towards getting the feature-length version made which chronicles, at greater detail, how the Jewish people traded off the curse of nomadic exile with the blessing of Jewish pioneer-led communities in the fatherland.
The film, which is part of the Zionist realism genre, takes on the ethos of the pioneer in a far more nuanced way than the rest of its generic peers. It is made up of three parts, each of which was shot in a different style and aesthetic: a filmed musical puppet theatre presentation chronicling the biblical tale of Balaam; documentary footage featuring voiceover narration through which the director observes the state in the making, the struggle to get it across the finish line and to realise the Zionist vision; and a narrative fiction storyline focusing on Independence War combatant, Joseph.
Joseph Halochem, the apple of everyone’s eye at his kibbutz, is stationed at an outpost on Mount Scopus during the War of Independence. Whilst there, he recalls the story of his pioneer parents who had immigrated to Palestine in the 1920s, started a kibbutz, fell in love and had him – and later, found themselves caught up in an ideological clash with the local collective, as a result of which they decided to move to Germany. After losing both his parents in the Holocaust, Joseph moves back to Palestine, returns to the kibbutz, and takes part in the battles for Jerusalem.
Out of Evil made the official selection for the Venice Film Festival.
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All rights are reserved to the Jerusalem Cinematheque – Israeli Film Archive (RA) and the rights holders of the works. Any use of works on the website for non-individual and non-personal purposes is strictly prohibited without prior, written permission.
For more information about the rights holders, please visit the relevant collection page, or contact the Jerusalem Cinematheque – Israeli Film Archive (RA) offices.
We have the utmost respect for all rights holders’ copyright and put great efforts to track down any and all intellectual property owners for the purpose of seeking and obtaining permission to use their materials featured on the website.
Any and all materials are used in accordance with clause 27a of the 2007 Copyright Act. If you believe that your rights as intellectual property and copyright owners of any material featured on this website have been compromised, then you may contact the Israeli Film Archive via email with a cease-and-desist notice, requesting that the material in alleged copyright infringement no longer be used. When contacting the archive, please state the merit to your copyright ownership claim, as well as your full name, email address, and telephone number, with a link to the relevant webpage.
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