Architects of a Nation
Architekten einer Nation
How can one try to build something when one is principally concerned with justifying one’s own existence? Ghost towns and a valley that becomes the setting for relating the history of an entire country are the subject of two films and a talk with Amos Gitai, who has directed several documentaries over the past few decades. His discussion partners are the festival makers Adam Zuabi and Baher Agbaria.
19 h
Wadi Grand Canyon
Documentary by Amos Gitai , Israel 2001, 90 min, English subtitles
In the third part of his Wadi trilogy, which was filmed in 1981, 1991 and 2001 Amos Gitai documents the changes in the small river valley Wadi Rushmia near Haifa. What was one a safe haven for settlers newly arriving in Israel turns into an urban wasteland and is declared a disaster area. In a valley blighted by overdevelopment, Yussuf and his wife hold out as the last-remaining guardians of the site and its history.
21 h
Atash - Thirst
Feature film by Tawfik Abu Wael , Palestine/Israel 2004, 110 min, German subtitles
A place in nowhere land. The father and son sell their self-produced coal in the village. The mother and daughter never leave the place. Some secret seems both to the family together and to destroy them at the same time. That’s why they came here, and that’s why they can never leave. But when father constructs a water pipe that he defends against a mysterious danger, the family members develop a thirst for freedom and life, a thirst they have repressed far too long.
