House

51 Minutes, 1980
Genre:
Documentary
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Directed by: Amos Gitai
Languages: Hebrew, English, Arabic
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Subtitles: English

Through the story of one Jerusalem residential home (located on 14 Dor Dor Vedorshav St.) Amos Gitai successfully manages to embody Israel’s recent history, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gitai chronicles the house’s refurbishment from the ground up and does so with an almost anthropological approach: he traces the stonemasonry on Mount Hebron, speaks to the Jewish contractor, his West Bank workmen, the current homeowner – an academic, and the previous occupants – a Jewish Algerian immigrant family who were put up in the abandoned property following the 1948 War of Independence. Finally, Gitai makes it all the way back to the original owner – Dr. Mahmoud Dajani whose family fled their home in 1948. House has earned its ‘film classic’ credentials not only for the courage it demonstrates in its uncompromisingly raw and honest portrayal of reality – a fact that resulted in the film being banned by its own commissioning body, the IBA (Israeli Broadcasting Authority) – but also, for Gitai’s meticulous and precise filmmaking. One would be remiss not to commend cinematographer Emanuel Aldema’s camerawork, and Rina Ben-Melech’s carefully curated editing. Coupled with Gitai’s unsentimental approach, the result is a thoroughly clever film which brilliantly reveals the many layers that comprise contemporary Israeli reality. (Eng Subtitles)

Locations:
לאסופה "עמוס גיתאי: הארכיטקט של האמנות השביעית"

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