On video: Culture Committee with Gila Almagor Agmon, interviewer: Nir Yahav/still photography: Reuven Castro
Believe it or not, but for an interview at our studio, voila! The actress Gila Almagor arrived - with almost 70 years of extensive career in theater, film and television behind her - straight from an audition she did for a new role. And no, if you ask her - it does not detract from her dignity. "I'm open to anything," she says. "Nothing is taken for granted. When an arrogant young man stands in front of me and says, 'Do an audition for me,' I told him, 'I have 60 films that I have participated in, you can look and choose what you want,' but when I understand why someone wants to do an audition for me because maybe he He's looking for something in me that he hasn't seen in movies or in the theater, and I believe I can still surprise. I have no problem at all doing auditions. I also really like working with people I haven't worked with yet. It's always a mystery what will happen in the interaction between us. The freshness of a young person makes me pulsate ".
Watch the full interview with Gila Almagor at the beginning of the article.
You can also listen to the interview on Spotify
Here you can listen to the interview with Gila Almagor
"If you take away the theater from me, I will be very angry. If you take away the cinema, I will kill you. I love television very much, but I will not be angry with you if you take it away from me."
Gila,
just before the age of 85, how do you still have the strength to continue memorizing texts?
"Memorizing texts is a difficult thing. I used to have a phenomenal photographic memory, but today I have to memorize and it's difficult. But in the theater there are aids that are very easy to use, such as a whispering headset when necessary. The actress Zaharira Harifai always said, 'The audience comes to see me act and not to hear it.' . She used her headphones for years. When needed, then no problem."
And at your age do you still have the strength to continue playing? You participate in so many projects.
"Touch wood! Without it I will die. Work is an engine. My life's best reason to get up in the morning."
Don't you feel like lying on the couch instead of going to a show night after night? It's not easy to perform every night.
"If it were simple it would bore me. I love the profession in all its mediums. If you take away the theater from me, I will be very angry. If you take away the cinema from me, I will kill you. I love television very much but I will not be angry with you if you take it away from me The camera in the cinema is my friend. There is a love story between us, even as I grow older. Everything I have on my face I earned honestly. My face, of a woman who is 85 years old, tells a much more interesting story than when I was young and they kept saying 'how sweet, how beautiful "I hated my face and myself then."
Among her many occupations, Almagor also finds time to manage the Teatronto festival for one-man plays produced by the Jaffa Theater. On April 17-18 he will arrive in Old Acre and from there he will continue on April 23-25 to Old Jaffa. The festival was founded 33 years ago by Almagor's late husband, Jacob Agmon, and since his death Almagor is the one who manages it.
"It's a great festival because the actor stands alone on stage and all the focus is on him. There's no way anyone will hide him. He goes on this journey when the whole audience sees only him," she says. "This is the 33rd year of the festival, and in addition to the usual one-man shows, there will also be a 'Caceranto' and 'Cacceranto' route, that is, of plays up to fifteen minutes. A whole world in a few minutes. It's a challenge and it's great. A lot of actors and actresses have started their careers At the Teatronto. When I think about the plays that have won over the years - these are experiences that have stayed with me as a viewer."
The festival also has performances related to the events of October 7. Have you wondered if it's too early?
"I was sure that it would take time, that perspective was needed, but I was wrong. It was impossible to wait with it. There are situations where you say, 'If I don't throw it up now, I will explode in my stomach.' It is. It's impossible not to."
"There was a woman who told the operator at the theater, 'Today, after the show, they are finishing her.' I have a knife
What has changed in you since October 7?
"Everything changed for me. It was always clear to me that Israel was home and it never occurred to me to leave. I always knew that it was the land of unlimited possibilities. I knew that there was a strong army guarding everywhere, that there was a leadership you believed in that would not allow its citizens to be harmed. People lost trust. This The most terrible thing. It's hard to live with a feeling of loss of trust, but it has to be different. I saw the movie in 'Ovda' about the women fighters in the KML and I say to myself 'these are childhoods'! She is talking to a commander and suddenly they don't hear her!
"On the other hand, other things have changed in me - and for the better. My faith in female power has changed. Women can be tank operators, fighters, pilots and manage military operations until the last minute. Women take up arms and fight the enemy. These things in this respect give me a lot of strength as a woman. And women who manage a home with several children while their husband is in the reserves - this is the height of heroism. They run a home, run a business. When I think about what happened to the abductees and the abductees, and that they are still there, it makes me sleepless. It is ridiculous for me to explain why these protests are just and important. If this is democracy, then to the end. We should demonstrate until the abductees are at home. Every day someone will die there, time is running out. How can you let this happen?".
Has your faith in peace been damaged or do you still believe in it?
"This is a question that bothers me a lot. Although my father was murdered by an Arab sniper, all my life my mother told me that you can talk to Arabs. I don't want to lose hope that one day it will be different here. I don't want to believe that all the blood spilled on this earth is in vain. Was it all in vain? If there is no hope then why live? Why give birth to children and raise them? After the Yom Kippur war women who were pregnant said 'only it won't be a boy'. For God's sake, let them have sons and live long lives, and let there be a healthy country. Berea means to educate from a young age, to educate that it is also possible otherwise."
You are known as someone who is not afraid to speak. Was there a time when you were actually afraid?
"No. There was a time when there were concrete threats against my life. There was a journalist who wrote to me that I should part with my heritage. At first I didn't understand what he was talking about until my granddaughter Sophie told me to go to the police. The police told me to be careful and installed all kinds of measures on me. There was also a woman who told the operator at the theater 'today after the play they finish it'. The operator did not say a word and when I asked to leave the theater I was not allowed. At first I thought something had happened to Yankela, but in the end the police told me that there was a woman who threatened me and who knows, maybe she could have stuck a knife in my stomach."
And all these stories didn't make you ask yourself why you needed it?
"No. In totalitarian regimes people think before they speak. I have lived in this country since the day I was born and there was always a feeling that we could talk. It is true that the situation has been unbearably difficult in recent years - look at what they did to my friend Rabkala Michaeli or Lipa Yarkoni - but whoever does not want to hear me or see me, should not come. Do not need. But I have to talk. If something is on my conscience, I have every right to speak."
Are you angry with artists who are afraid to speak?
"I understand the fear of artists who don't want to speak. They want to make a living, they want to be a consensus and to be loved. For me - whoever loves, let him love. Whoever does not - that is his right. Not for me, I get up in the morning. The thing about being liked is nice when you're 18-19 years old."
"Death does not scare me, but I would like to die peacefully, not to bother anyone and not be dependent on anyone. To know that I am leaving the world with my head held high. I am not afraid, but I would like to know that I am leaving this place in peace."
If it were announced this year that you were the bride of the Israel Prize, what would you do?
"Who would give me the Israel Prize this year? They wouldn't give me this year."
Let's say they were informers.
"There is no such thing. They wouldn't have given it to me this year. When you see this embarrassing saga with the Israel Prize. It started with the terrible mistake made by the Minister of Education. How did such a mistake happen to you?! How did you allow yourself to let all the people take control of this decision?! Eyal Waldman stands , a father whose entire daughter was murdered in this war, one of the most important entrepreneurs who were here, and you argue with his achievement?! Because you don't like him?! I don't want to argue whether he was told something in the (Netanyahu's - NY) house or not. And in the end, Kish went back on the decision. How pathetic and sad. The Israel Prize is the most important prize that a country seeking science, knowledge and books gives. The people give the award, not officials, not a committee."
Do you think about death? Does it scare you?
"I'm not afraid of death. My father has been waiting for me there for years, it's time for him to get to know me. My mother is waiting, Yankel'a is waiting, friends. Death does not scare me, but I would like to die peacefully, not to be a bother to anyone and not to be dependent on anyone. To know that I leave the world with my head held high. I'm not afraid, but I'd like to know that I'm leaving this place in peace. It is hard for me to leave this place today, which I love the most in the world, when it is so conflicted, sad and painful. Not ideal to go like this. I seem to say to myself 'wait a moment, there is more to do and then go'. But you never know when that will happen. When the one above says 'Almagor, follow me', I will go. Just not in pain, just not in dependence and just in clarity."
What did you think of your impersonation in "Eraz Fahadrah"?
"Zarhovitz? First of all, he is a genius with 'the actress and the actress'. I have a great self-humor, those who know me know. Zarahovich, put on the scarf I gave you for the wedding, not this rag you're wearing. The guy is a genius. It's in humor and it's great. If he sees me as something like a teacher, fine, so be it. It is very honorable to be in a 'wonderful country'. I love them, it's a great show and their makeup artist Liat Sheinin is really a genius. There is a file of talents one by one."
Do you have an Instagram? Tiktok?
"I don't have a Tiktok but I have an Instagram that my granddaughter Sophie told me if I touch it, I will delete it. So I don't even know what it is. I am a digital puppet. I'm even afraid of the internet. I still write by hand. But on the phone I have everything, my whole life there. Of course I'm also on WhatsApp and everything. My phone went silent for ten days and it was very difficult."
"My daughter Hagar told me one day, 'When I come home from school, you won't cry.' from me"
Is there a role you regret?
"No. I've had a lot of failures, but I don't regret it. A journey like mine, which started on my 17th birthday when I went on stage as an actress, is like a roller coaster - it has ups and downs. I don't regret the failures. The trick is to find out why the failure happened , where I failed. I will not blame others, I will blame myself first and then I will take what was - on. There is no time to waste."
On the other hand, is there a role you are particularly proud of?
"I'm a director's actress. When I have a good director, I'm happy. I've had some wonderful directors. Give me a good director, and I'll follow him."
I thought you would say that you are especially proud of the things you created, like "Abia's Summer".
"Look, I didn't finish 10 years of school and I always thought that being ignorant - I had no right to write. But what happened to me happened and my stomach turned over and I touched the ground and I didn't want to live. It was just before I did something terrible to myself. My daughter Hagar told me one day, 'When I When you come home from school, you won't cry.' 'Avia's summer'. It was probably in me for years, waiting to break out. After 'Avia's summer' became a phenomenal success, it took me five years to write 'Etz Doomim Tapos'. This book also has a very beautiful life and has been translated into many languages. It Simply amazing".
In July you have your 85th birthday. If you throw a party, I hope they don't make it "Abia's summer".
"Since the age of 10 I don't do parties because I'm always afraid they won't come. It's an indescribable anxiety. I'm fine that way."
How would you like to be remembered?
"First of all, I'll tell you how I'd like to celebrate. I'd like to know that all the abductees are here. If they're here, I'm doing the celebration I've never done. I wish the damn war would end and sane days would come. And regarding your question, how would I like to be remembered - as a human being. I would like them to remember that I was a person who cared for others, who raised himself to be a person against all odds. To this day, when I see a man carrying a girl on his shoulders, I go to the side and cry. This feeling of having a father. This thing, this strength. I came into the world without a father. I am not poor and I have never been poor for one moment in my life, even when I had a hard time. I fell and got up. When a friend yelled at me 'you don't have a father and you don't have a father' when we were children, I could have killed her. My struggles as a child hardened me. I was a tough girl, and then A tough girl, a tough woman and now a tough adult. I would like to be remembered that I cared about this country and its people."