After being alongside "The Lion" Motti in Africa, son Canaan and grandson Liri present an Israeli nature series • "We learned a lot from him"
"The series was very reminiscent of working with my dad, his grandfather."
Canaan and Leary Kirschenbaum
Photography:
Eric Sultan
The parrot Diego lives in the living room of the Kirschenbaum family's home in Pardes Hanna.
The ceiling is high, the space is spacious, and Diego has plenty of nuts and a magnificent branch to rest on, beep loudly and spread its wings as soon as someone opens the door of the house.
The parrot has been a senior partner in the apartment for almost four years, and the procedure is repeated over and over again.
"Dad, close the door, the parrot spread its wings," Lari (14) warns his father Canaan.
"My dad is about the only one who loves this parrot, because he already bites everyone. And the parrot loves my dad the most. Wherever Dad goes - he flies there. Therefore, every time someone opens a door or window one has to be careful, and Dad even more than anyone, So that the parrot does not fly after him and run away from home. "
"He actually ran away from home once," Canaan recalls.
"There was a storm, and someone found him and collected him. There are groups of parrots on Facebook, they are constantly lost and sometimes found, so whoever finds or loses posts there. When that happens, they usually do not survive and come back. Those who found Diego contacted us, "Because they saw we were looking, and we had to buy it back. It cost us quite a bit, but in the end Diego came home."
And there is also the dog Ozzy.
It is very large, but less noisy than the original owner, and these two private animals are just a prelude to the Kirschenbaums' preoccupation with nature and animals, a preoccupation with which of course the late Grandpa Moti began and Leary is his third generation.
* * *
This preoccupation, which has been documented in Moti's nature films, is now getting a new stage in the children's series "Wildlife," which aired last week on the educational channel here (Sundays and Mondays, 3:45 p.m.).
This is a 15-minute program that tries to make nature accessible to young viewers with the help of field activities, explanations and meetings with experts.
Canaan is one of its three creators (with nature photographer Ann Wasserman and director Guy Michael), while his son Leary hosts it with Naomi Tzur Dror, a former classmate.
“We worked on the show for a year, and both of us - both me and Leary - experienced nostalgia, because The series was very reminiscent of working with my father, his grandfather, "says Canaan (54), the son of TV legend Moti Kirschenbaum, who died of a heart attack in September 2015.
" I shot a lot of films for my father, especially abroad. Liri also went out to accompany some. "From the movies he shot. That's why it felt like something that continues Dad. Like we're really walking in his footsteps."
How is this gait manifested?
"We learned a lot from him. First of all, take a step back and look at things. Do not paint the experience in nature as the only thing we see. After all, Dad was a storyteller and inventor, putting all politics into his documentaries on safari. We did not make a series like that, because we created "For the children, but we definitely took the personal direction from him. It's a kind of docu, you can see the facilitators fall and laugh."
What would he think of your series?
Canaan: "He was very, very proud of the series, and very much loves it."
Leary: "I believe he would have been a bit of a commenter too. But other than that I think he was really proud of me."
Canaan: "Well, what comments would he give you?"
Leary: "I do not know exactly, but I know a lot. Because for example, when we would travel with him to take pictures in Africa, sometimes I just stood and he would start yelling at me."
Canaan: "Leary talks about the fact that when we were going to take pictures in the jungles of Africa, if we were just moving things in a jeep or making noise, Grandpa would immediately bark at him, 'Leary! Quiet.' We have a lot of trauma from these trips. But Leary, this time If he had given you any comments, you could have replied, "Grandpa, I'm the star here now."
* * *
The new series was filmed from Eilat to the north, along the beaches, in the forests and in urban areas.
Naomi, Leary's co-teacher, was picked up from the school where he is studying.
The 20 episodes he filmed touch on a variety of subjects - from madmen, through puddles and migratory birds, to electrifying animals and even glowing creatures.
"We went out for it like we would go out with Motti to shoot in Africa, without a big hassle of sophisticated equipment," says Canaan, "and we managed to cover a lot of nature that the country has to offer. A very documentary and experiential work came out. On bats, so we went down abseiling in the caves to see them.
"There has never been such a nature series in the country, which took two nature-loving children, both from an anthroposophical school, and went out with them to nature. There is no studio. They deliver the content for fun, but the series is educational and very important, because it speaks to children aged 10-8 and explains The elements of nature and the importance of preserving it. "
What are the differences between the filming of the series and the films you shot in Africa?
Canaan: "In Africa you basically dedicate yourself to the camera and the idea and forget about the country a bit. This is also what Dad loved so much - to forget about the country, to run away. We would sit for hours in a jeep and take pictures. Put a camera on a tripod and wait for hours to happen. "A day, and every event becomes very exciting. Then you return to the land and to normal life."
"This time, we filmed this series near the house. We had to take over two children, and somehow harness nature into this thing as well. Every item has to be filmed in its own season, it's not possible to coordinate the filming with the turtles.
" Valery, he argues about everything Itai.
This is exactly adolescence.
Hard.
Think you should shoot a series like this.
"I was lucky that Guy Van was with me, because sometimes I needed them to help me and deal with him."
Leary: "Sometimes we filmed in the dark, sometimes in the rain, sometimes when it boiled. These conditions are not easy, and we are still 14-year-olds after all, so there were situations where we had to catch up and say a word or two, and then we came back to ourselves."
How did you combine the intense photography with the studies at school?
Canaan: "At a time when there were studies that clashed with photography they did not go to school. But half the time it was Corona, so there was no problem because they are at home anyway. It is an anthroposophical school, with an emphasis on art, so they quite cooperated with us."
* * *
"Leary is a child of freedom," his father defines him, after he barely managed to get him out of bed for the interview in the living room of their home.
The parents, Canaan and Ailey, separated five and a half years ago and they are raising Leary and his sister Alma in joint custody.
The 17-year-old girl, who was a talented gymnast in her youth, plans to attend a pre-military preparatory school next year.
"I like to be at home and watch series and now in Corona I do it a lot," says Leary, "I also like to play rugby and have been in Capoeira for many years, but it's not something I like to do anymore. I like to cook, surf and work on the computer, and I like Also order and cleanliness. "
Canaan: "Just the opposite of his sister. She's a crazy mess, and Leary somehow captured my neat character. He's very neat, really. There are not many children who get up in the morning and make the bed."
Leary: "It does not happen in Corona because I am in bed all day, yes?"
Maybe it's because it's made of fine Kirschenbaum family DNA. Leary is not too excited about jumping to the front of the screen.
"I have a bit of a fear, because it is broadcast on a channel that a lot of people see," he admits. "Friends wrote to me and commented, some complimented and some Laugh at me, but laughs like that are fun. "
Not all parents would allow their children to be famous at an early age.
Canaan:" I had no doubt that Liri is great for this series.
It might make him a more famous kid, but it's not new to him.
This is not the first time.
He appeared with me in a 50-minute film that aired on Channel 8, during which we documented a few years ago our journey to Africa following Dad.
We called it 'Safari without a Lion' because we were 14 days in the field and did not see a lion, and it was symbolic that we traveled for the first time without Dad.
"Even before that, Liri was present in the films of Dad, who really liked to bring his grandchildren in, so Liri is a bit used to cameras, although it's clear that in the series this is something completely different and a new experience. Liri is very human, knows how to talk to people and loves nature, so I did not "He's sure he's going great on the show. I'm sure if his grandfather had seen him, he would have been very, very proud."
Leary: "From a young age, 6-7 like that, I have already traveled with my grandfather abroad, mainly to Africa.
Almost every year we flew, until he passed away.
I always learned from him, I learned a lot just from looking at him. "
What would you like to do when you grow up?
" I would probably want a job with a lot of money, but everyone wants that.
Maybe I'll be a chef, that's nice.
Or an actor.
Maybe a high-tech job.
These are three main directions that I am thinking of at this point. "
* * *
It's not easy to be "the grandson of", but it's probably less complicated and complex than being "the son of".
Canaan Kirshenbaum, the eldest of four children of Moti Yona, died in 2006 from cancer, and the brother of pleasantness, Anat Aviv's still got a major label, even at his age he finds it difficult to remove.
For a moment the interview he disappeared into a side room and returns with his hands Trophy rusting , on which hangs a dusty caption: "Canaan Kirschenbaum - best player, Hapoel Jerusalem 1978/9." dreamy souvenir afflicted children in the club's Katamon, seemed to want to say - it's never been just a "son of".
"As a child I practiced and played legendary Compound In Katamon, and since we lived in Jerusalem at the time, I played for Hapoel - the city's eternal underdog team, "he recalls," to this day I have a fondness for the team, even though in the family we are ardent Maccabi Netanya fans, because of my grandfather.
"I remember how as children we would go to Grandpa in Netanya every Saturday, and then go down from his house to a 'box'. Dad would always come with a bag of seeds and curse the referee. We were in the stands during the club's best years, when the league was Netanya and 15 other teams. Nature and football are. The two greatest loves of the family, to this day. "
For about a decade, after his release from military service in the Navy, Canaan worked alongside his father in documentary film productions.
"I learned everything I do today from him. He would throw me out with this photographer and that editor, and that's how I just learned."
At one point, in order to take down his father's shadow, he decided to move to a completely different field.
"My brother Noam and I had a fashion company for surfers called 'Zarka'. For 18 years I worked with surfing clothes, first with my brother and eventually alone, and we had distributors and shops in Tel Aviv. It was an action business, I liked to deal with it.
" About seven years ago we closed. This fashion house.
This happened due to a combination of fatigue from the field and lack of financial backing.
To survive we had to get into the malls, and we did not have the resources for that.
"When I thought about what I wanted to do next, I said to myself, 'I'll go back to making movies.' I really like the field, Dad passed away, I got divorced, and it was a very turbulent time in our lives. Then we shot two films in Africa, and we find ourselves very involved in nature. Makes us happy.
"For years they would say to me, 'How do you keep working with your father,' and it's like he's become a person, but I took it just fine.
Dad used to get us, the brothers, from a very young age that he takes us with him to everything he does, whether it's the articles he would go out to or whether it's sitting all day in 'head cleaning' studios.
We really grew up with television.
He took us everywhere, maybe because he's never been home and wanted us to be with him some of the time, and he's really glad we're there, growing into his work. "
Still, it's certainly not easy being the" second Kirschenbaum.
" It's being under a huge shadow.
To say it's just good, or just easy?
Definately not.
Sometimes it's hard and not good.
Personally it took me full years to get out of this thing.
It's been five years since he passed away, and slowly I can say I'm a little free of it.
"By the way, there is no shortage of examples of families where it does not seem to be stabbing anyone. In the Banai family, for example, many are breaking artists. But for me it did delay, and it is definitely personal. On the other hand, today I have a lot of fun working with Leary.
" Working on it is a film about Dad, his history and the history of the country, and how everything fits together. "
* * *
The roots of the Kirschenbaum family's love of nature were planted by their son Noam, who is three years younger than Canaan.
"Dad was a natural patient himself, but Noam really brought it into the house," Canaan says.
"As a child he went to birding classes in Jerusalem, and today he writes definitions that are common everywhere and delivers lectures and workshops, so nature had a very big place in our family.
" We would go on family trips in nature, parents would take us once or twice a year to Sinai. Israeli, and later we also discovered the country trails.
My great love for the country is mostly through my feet.
I plowed it length and breadth, in the south and in the north. "
Where do you feel the lack of Dad the most?
" Unlike most of the people of Israel, who are missing near Yaron London, for example, for us as a family he is very lacking in personal terms.
This realization that I no longer have a father.
We used to talk a lot, every day, and I miss that.
"I'm constantly reminded of it, because my last name betrays me straight away, and then something is immediately said about it. It's not always in place or appropriate, but in most cases it warms the heart.
" Now, with the new series, which is a combination of documentary and nature, we We continue to somehow keep it, at least in its spirit, in our lives.
We deal with the things he did and loved, and we prefer it that way, we do not want him to be forgotten. "
nirw@israelhayom.co.il
