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"There is a medical virus in Israel and also a political virus. We are jumping into the abyss"

"A Night in Haifa", a film by Amos Gitai starring Tzachi Halevi and Hannah Leslau, made its world premiere in the official competition of the Venice Film Festival.

In conversations with Walla!

Culture, the director explained why Haifa is an example to us all, and the actress why we should take the corona in proportions

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• Amos Gitai

• Hannah Leslau

• Venice Film Festival

Avner Shavit, Venice

Wednesday, 09 September 2020, 01:12

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Trailer for the movie "Night in Haifa" (United King)

31 years ago, Amos Gitai screened his film "Berlin - Jerusalem" at the Venice Film Festival.

It was his first visit to the film festival and in general to some important European festival, and since then he has become a regular on the red carpet - one whose every new film is screened as part of the official events of these events.

And so, his new film "Night in Haifa" also joined the club yesterday (Tuesday), and made its premiere at the official competition of the Venice Film Festival.

Compared to previous times, this time of course the circumstances were different.

In fact, it is the first Israeli film to premiere on a big screen at an international festival since the outbreak of the Corona.

As its name implies, the film takes place in the director's hometown and for one night.

During this time, we meet in it a wide range of characters from all the colors of the rainbow who are each unhappy in their own way.

They are played by well-known actors such as Tzachi Halevi, Tom Baum, Hannah Leslau and Naama Price, as well as the stunning discoveries of Maria Zrik and Beira Ablasi, who in reality work as a kindergarten teacher in Tel Aviv.

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Regular guest.

Amos Gitai (Photo: Imagebank)

It is always interesting to hear the reactions of international journalists to an Israeli film.

This time, they complained that the endless transitions between Hebrew and Arabic confused them, because the languages ​​were similar in their ears.

In addition, they asked me where Haifa was.

I was happy to answer that this is the best city in Israel, and Gitai also agrees with that.

"This is a less dramatic city than other cities in Israel, and we should see it as a model," he said in a brief conversation with me before and during the official press conference.

"Haifa is a model for a kind of place of refuge, where you can meet, talk and bridge the gaps. I do not think art can change reality, but it can provoke thought, and through this film I wanted to convey the message that even small human gestures can help reduce hostility."

Gitai does not currently live in Israel, and I asked him about the fact that the cinemas in the country are still closed, with no expectation of opening, so it is not clear when it will be possible to see "Night in Haifa" on a big screen.

"There is a medical virus in Israel, but also a political virus," he told Walla!

culture.

"You do not know what exactly serves what and who decides and why. Too bad, this is a country that was run rationally, but is now jumping into the abyss."

A decade and a half ago, Hannah Leslau recorded one of the greatest achievements of an Israeli actress ever when she starred in another Gitai film, "Free Zone," and won the Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

In "Night in Haifa" she has only one scene, but this is the scene that caused the loudest bursts of laughter in the world during the press screening.

Leslau plays a woman who comes to a blind date with someone she knew online, and they both discover that the reality is completely different from what was expected of him.

When the date asks her what her job is, she replies "I'm a widow," and at this point the crowd explodes.

"This whole scene was my idea and the dialogues are all my improvisations," the actress reveals.

The Queen of Style.

Hannah Leslau (Photo: Avner Shavit)

How has the past six months been for you?

"I'm not waiting for anyone. I'm a hardworking and enterprising person. I wrote a solo show that will go up as soon as the halls return. Besides, I was photographed for two youth series. One with Jonathan Margie, who is charming, and I also had a filming day at Stisel, where I re-emerge As a resting matchmaker "

" Personally, I was a full-time grandmother. My only grandson, Raphael, lived with his parents in London so until now we talked mostly on Facebook and he only knew my face. During the corona he came to Israel, and so he found out I also have a bottom. " .

"I am a daughter of Holocaust survivors, so my proportions are a little different, when everyone said 'this is a disaster' I said in response 'True, it changed the world, but in the Holocaust it was much harder. After all, now we have food and we have a home, so we have to take Things are in order, but the problem is that the world is terribly spoiled. "

Stunning.

Maria Zarik (right) and Naama Price, stars of "Night in Haifa" (Photo: Imagebank)

Another film screened yesterday in the official competition was Italian, but also dealt with the Middle East.

This is the "Notturno" by Italian documentary filmmaker Gianfreco Rosie, who in the last decade recorded a rare achievement when he won the most important awards at two of the biggest festivals in Europe - the Golden Bear in Berlin for "Fire at Sea" and the Golden Lion in Venice for "Sacro GRA".

His new film describes the consequences of the war on the common man in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, and has a variety of chilling moments - for example, documentation of Yazidi girls recounting the trauma they experienced following the genocide they experienced at the hands of ISIS.

Because of the power of the film, its topicality and its humanity, he is definitely one of the candidates to take the stage at the awards ceremony, which will take place this coming Saturday and end the Venice Film Festival 2020 - a miracle that happened against all odds.

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