YESHAYAHOU LEIBOWITZ SET, Izkor & Itgaber by Eyal Sivan

IZKOR: IZKOR, is a portrait of the Israeli society that had never been shown before, thirty days in the life of a State that lives to the rhythm of its memory. This award-winning film puts forward a passionate and severe analysis of the Hebrew state.

ITGABER: According to professor Yeshyahou Leibowitz, “the honest man should know that he should never respect the law too closely”. In this three hours long interview, Eyal Sivan interrogates the great Jewish thinker Leibowitz not only about philosophy, science, values, but also about State, religion, law and ethical commitment.

YESHAYAHOU LEIBOWITZ SET, Izkor & Itgaber by Eyal Sivan

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IZKOR: IZKOR, is a portrait of the Israeli society that had never been shown before, thirty days in the life of a State that lives to the rhythm of its memory. This award-winning film puts forward a passionate and severe analysis of the Hebrew state.

“IZKOR,” means "remember" in Hebrew and this film looks in depth at this imperative that is imposed on the children of Israel. In Israel during the month of April feast days and celebrations take place one after another. School children of all ages prepare to pay tribute to their country's past. The collective memory becomes a terribly efficient tool for the training of young minds.

In Israel, “Never again” is not just a slogan, it's a “mantra”. It is an atmosphere, an ever present cloud, a widespread fear, touching every aspect of daily life, reason, opinions, creativity and choices people make for the future. Though Israel has been under the media spotlight since its creation, it is still a mystery to many observers. Its survival raises moral problems for some, and malicious speculation in others. But it is precisely on account this survival issue that the identity and determination of the population were forgotten.

The author of the film is an Israeli. By going to rediscover the myths and symbols that have contributed to the making of his own identity, as well as that of every Israeli, he is bringing into play his own personal experience. Through a meticulous observation of the educational system, from kindergarten to the army, we discover how history is transformed into memory, how it sets an atmosphere and influences Israelis' behavior and lifestyles. Not only of interest for specialists on Israel, the film is an assessment of the place of memory in educational practice in a contemporary nation-state.

ITGABER: According to professor Yeshyahou Leibowitz, “the honest man should know that he should never respect the law too closely”. In this three hours long interview, Eyal Sivan interrogates the great Jewish thinker Leibowitz not only about philosophy, science, values, but also about State, religion, law and ethical commitment.

A man of religion living in a settler State while critical of the mingling of State and religion, Leibowitz has spoken of disobedience and called for an uprising against Israeli crimes and international impunity. Even though Leibowitz took part of in the 1948, he has criticized the implementation and evolution of the State of Israel, in the name of a Jewish tradition of responsibility and divine law.

In dialogue with Eyal Sivan, using vocabulary that can be understood by everyone, the philosopher opens himself up with a critical reflexion about what makes Man : his will power, his freedom, what he chooses, the tasks he sets himself, and how by “Triumphing over Oneself”, he goes above the others of this world. In Itgaber, spectators will see Yeshayahu Leibowitz think aloud and notice his incredible wit and prophetic tone. A crucial introduction to a philosopher who made history in Jewish religious and ethical thinking.

Key words : Education, Holocaust, Institutions, Israel, Memory, Nationalism, Nazism, ZionismYeshyahou Leibowitz, Philosophy, Religion, Disobedience, Israel-Palestine conflict, Judaism, Refuzniks

Education Interest : Colonialism, Education, Film and Media, Genocide Studies, Israeli Studies, Jewish studies, Middle East Studies, Palestine Studies, Political Science, Visual Anthropology, Visual Arts
Eyal Sivan, is a documentary filmmaker and theoretician based in Paris
Born in 1964 in Haifa Israel and grow up in Jerusalem.

After exercising as a professional photographer in Tel-Aviv, he leaves Israel in 1985 and settled in Paris. Since he is sharing is time between Europe and Israel.

Known for his controversial films, Sivan directed more than 10 worldwide awarded political documentaries and produced many others. His cinematographic body of work was shown and awarded various prizes in prestigious festivals. Beside worldwide theatrical releases and TV broadcasts, Sivan's films are regularly exhibit in major art shows around the world.

He publishes and lectures on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, documentary filmmaking and ethics, political crimes and representation, political use of memory, genocide and representation, etc.

He is the founder and artistic director of the Paris based documentary films production company momento! and the film distribution agency Scalpel. He is the founder and Chief Editor of South Cinema Notebooks - a journal of cinema and political critic edited by the Sapir academic college in Israel where he lectures regularly.

In the last years Sivan was Reader (associate professor) in media production at the school of Arts and Digital Industries (ADI), at the University of East London (UEL) were he was co-leading the MA program in Film, video and new media. He his teaching at the Master in Film at the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam. He is member of the editorial board of the Paris based publishing house La Fabrique.

"Eyal Sivan continues his relentless and disturbing work, from film to film, investigating thre true nature of his native country. Any study of memory, of history, of values, of the myths of Israel confronted with reality, depends, of course, and perhaps above all, for Eyal Sivan on getting to know your opponent. In this case, the enemy / partner over the last 50 years, the palestinian people."
- Le Nouvel Observateur
IZKOR:
“Izkor offers the viewer a disquieting sense of the intensely ideological role of the Israeli educational system” OU “Izkor is a remarkable portrait of the Israeli educational system, but the sort of indoctrination in nationalist mythology that you criticize goes on in every country.”
Cineaste

"It is not difficult to understand why Sivan's film has offended some people. Certain memories have attained the status of sacred cows and any viewpoint not totally reverential to them may be considered taboo. Sivan implies no disrespect to either the memories or the events they preserve, but is questioning the methods used in ensuring them for the future. A sacred cow not open to questioning must be considered suspect by an alert mind.“
The Jerusalem Post

“Courageous film”
Les Cahiers du Cinéma

"Izkor is an hypercritical vision of the educational system of Israel. It is illustrated by the thoughts of professor Leibovitz who points out an extensive use of the memory of the past in order to justify the present actions."
Jewish Press Agency

"These two hours won't leave anyone unharmed."
L'Express

ITGABER :
The film preserves an oratorical art, made of imprecations, brisures, silences and repetitions, peculiar to the subtle and grandiloquent prophets the Jewish people has always had. (...) The cathodic dimension is never lost, Leibowitz is set face to face with previous shootings, through a video - tape recorder. This device attempts to shake up a thought system, as well as tracking it. Not fooled but fascinated, this document exasperates and delights.
Télérama

Original because despite of the strong personality of his interlocutor, the director succeed in keeping a loyal distance which doesn't deprive the spectator of his freedom of perception. In front of Eyal Sivan's camera, Yeshahyaou Leibowitz casts many roles : the scientific philosopher delivers the argued fruits of his thoughts and knowledge, the citizen fires against the established order, the interviewed returns the questions to the interviewer and comments it. The whole thing is to be heard and watch with delight.
Différences

Whether you side with Leibowitz' thoughts or feel a fierce hatred towards him, this film instructs and shakes you up. Rare qualities in this day and age.
Journal des lettres et de l'audiovisuel
Box set of 3 DVD9 discs All zones
- Disc 1 : ITGABER part I, on science and values [85 min] + Extras [17min]
- Disc 2 : ITGABER part II, on State and law [85 min] + Extras [17min]
- Disc 3 : IZKOR, slaves of memory [97min]
Total runing time : 300 min
Image format : 4:3
Sound format : Dolby 2.0
Dialog : Hebrew
Sub-titels : French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, (Izkor also Arabic)
DVD Extras features : 34 minuts unedited scens
ISBN 2-915683-06-9

YESHAYAHOU LEIBOWITZ SET, Izkor & Itgaber by Eyal Sivan

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