Berlin-Jerusalem

Berlin-Jerusalem is an 89-minute 1989 British-Dutch-French-Israeli-Italian English-, French-, German-, and Hebrew-language independent underground dramatic historical experimental art film directed by Amos Gitai.

Synopsis

The film tells the story of two women in the 1930s. The first, Else Lasker-Schüler, a German expressionist poet, observes the rise of Nazism in Berlin before leaving for Jerusalem. The second, the Russian Manya Shochat, called Tania in the film, settles in a community in Israel.

Production

The film was produced by, includes the artistic contributions of Pina Bausch and was inspired by the paintings of George Grosz, was financed by the Italian public television, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting, La Sept, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s UK Government Investments’s Channel Four Television Corporation’s Film4 Productions, the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, and, was distributed by Facets Multi-Media, was shot by Henri Alekan and Nurith Aviv, was edited by, Antoine Bonfanti,, and, was cast by, and also stars inter alia Markus Stockhausen, Vernon Dobtcheff, Veronica Lazăr, Bernard Eisenschitz,, Juliano Mer-Khamis, Mark Ivanir, Keren Mor,, and Ohad Shahar.

Reception

The film was screened at the 46th Venice International Film Festival during September 1989, at the 1990 International Istanbul Film Festival/ and International Film Festival Rotterdam, at the British Film Institute’s 1989 BFI London Film Festival, at the 1989 Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September 1989, at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival on 22 February 1992, and at the 1998 São Paulo International Film Festival. The journalist Daniel Warth has opined that “although the film is minimalistic, it is nonetheless ravishing.” The film was released in Israel, where it was released to the general public by ’s and the Tel Aviv Cinematheque on 7 December 1990, together with Esther as part of a DVD boxset in 2005.