Music Fatalities

Is music a means of dealing with the reality of life in Israel? And can it foster understanding between the different peoples? Or does it, on the contrary, deepen the feelings of hatred? Four films and a talk with Melissa Logan, from Chicks on Speed, Björn Döring, the artistic director of the popdeurope music festival, and Julien Salemkour, conductor and assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin.

17 h

Glamour Girl

Documentary by Deborah Schamoni, Israel 1999, 4.10 min

A video clip of the avant-garde pop group Chicks on Speed in Israel: At one point, they are snipping away at their outfits, then we see them standing in the Dead Sea performing their song.

Wir können nur den Hass verringern

Documentary by Paul Smaczny , Germany 2004, 90 min

The film accompanies the Israeli-Palestinian East-Western Divan Orchestra and its founders Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said during their first meeting in Weimar, at concerts on major stages, on their visit to Ramallah, and during the talks accompanying the concerts. Powerful images cross the screen, telling the story of a passion for music and of prejudices - and how they slowly dissolve.

19 h

Channels of Rage

Documentary by Anat Halachmi , Israel 2003, English subtitles

Subliminal is the name adopted by a Zionist rapper who they say has ‘reinvented Hebraic’. Tamer, an ‘Israeli Arab’ is a charismatic newcomer. He looks up to Subliminal, his mentor, but soon they both lose faith in the unifying force of hip-hop. Whereas Subliminal moves ever closer to the political right, Tamer becomes increasingly popular among Arab audiences, and his social message gives way to a pro-Palestinian, nationalist agenda.

Jericho’s Echo - Punk Rock in the Holy Land

Documentary by Liz Nord , USA, 2005, 75 min. video, English subtitles

These young Israelis spend part of their week in the barracks, and the rest of their time in punk clubs. In a society that is fond of evading delicate issues, bands with names like Useless I.D. and Lo Kosher (‘not kosher’) scream out their truth: about occupation, war and a youth that has had enough of living in fear.