David Zeitani (1902-1998) was a Zionist activist and one of the pioneering forefathers of the Israeli film industry. In addition, he produced dozens of documentaries and propaganda films, had his own music label, Zimra Records, and was a property developer. Born David Boymelgreen in Poland, he took on the surname Zeitani on the advice of poet laureate Hayim Nahman Bialik, who suggested he would be better served with a more Hebrew-sounding name. In 1924, after a few failed attempts, he finally succeeded in immigrating to Palestine. In Haifa, he befriended Nathan Axelrod who soon thereafter led him into the world of filmmaking.
His debut film, Days of Resolution (1939), was a portrayal of Jewish community lives in Palestine as World War II broke out. Zeitani went to the US to finish work on the film but was forced to extend his stay over the war and would not return for another six years. In 1944 he went to Hollywood and spent a year at Warner Brothers Studios, cutting his teeth and learning the craft of filmmaking. In 1945, on his return to Israel he produced the film, If I Forget Thee, commissioned by the JNF. Then in 1946, he produced the film On Our Land, which focused on the Kfar Batya youth village.
In those days Zeitani had a keen interest in documenting much of Jewish life in the land, including the christening ceremony of the Trade Union (Histadrut) building in Tel Aviv, breaking ground in kibbutz Sa’ad, erecting entire city neighbourhoods, and building scores of factories led by political party and settlement movement, Hapoel HaMizrachi. In 1947 he made the film A State is Born, with voiceover narration by Abba Eban. The film won first prize at an international documentary filmmaking competition in Prague. The JNF promptly bought the rights and went on to show it across the US with great success, using it as a propaganda film to promote fundraising for the UJA )United Jewish Appeal.) Renowned Jewish opera singer Richard Tucker even performed a Hebrew rendition of ‘Hymn of the Palmach’ (aka ‘Shir HaPalmach’ / ‘Song of Commandos’) in the film.
In 1948, teaming up with Menachem Kolari and Solomon Goldman, Zeitani started the music label Zimra Records, for the purpose of recording, producing, and releasing Hebrew and Israeli music to American Jews across the US. Highlights of the record label’s releases include The Nachal Troupe’s inaugural special (Songs by Nachal, 1956), ‘singing rabbi’ Shlomo Carlebach’s debut album The Soul Onto You (‘haneshama lach’), and Hanna Aroni’s album Pastorale (1953).
In 1950 Zeitani joined forces with Moshe Yavnai. Together they started Nof Artzi [‘my country’s vistas’] – a production company that produced How Lovely you’ve Grown, Tel Aviv – the nascent country’s first-ever big screen musical. The film starred some of the period’s greatest screen and singing sensations including Hannah Zamir, Abraham Wilkomirski, and Hanna Aroni. Though devoid of any plot, the film’s musical numbers are beautifully interspersed with background footage of a burgeoning Tel Aviv and its local vistas.
Highlights of his other filmmaking credits include Laying the Cornerstone of the Nursing Homes for Holocaust Survivor Children in Bnei Brak (1947), Urban Landscape in Israel (1948), The First Independence Day Military Parade (1948), Etzion and Other Footage (1949), Jerusalem Defenders Laid to Rest (1949), On Sea Routes (1949), Reinterment of Benjamin Zeev Herzl in Israel (1949), Funeral for the Fallen in the War of Independence in Jerusalem (1949), and Road to Sodom (1951).
