Film Archive

Birth of a Golem

The Golem Trilogy by Amos Gitai 2003 / Naissance d'un Golem / France 1990

Old Testament and cabbalistic motifs, accompanied by attractive visual links, go together to create a remarkable testimony of the creation of the whole world. One of the roles is played by Annie Lennox, from the rock group Eurythmics.

Synopsis

Amos Gitai himself refers to Birth of a Golem, completed on video, as a notebook. The film is not so much a narrative as a series of scenes, in several languages. Many scenes feature passages from major non-Biblical Jewish books. While the film does stand as a finished work, it is not coherent in the traditional sense. Scenes do not flow together into a narrative. Instead, like pages in a notebook, scenes are linked by virtue of their subject – the Golem – and by their simply being placed next to each other. There are tales of the creation of the world, and of the creation of the Golem. Life itself is associated with an omnipotent force naming something God has moulded out of a formless mass. Musicians play in the desert as a golem-like creature emerges from the sand. Other scenes offer further thematic and formal commentary on and parallels to the story of the Golem. Near the film’s end, a voice says, “a film made like a golem.” All this suggests that Birth of a Golem itself, this ambiguous mass, should be understood as a golem-like creature, to which the filmmakers have symbolically given birth. This creature continues its life in the next, somewhat more conventional, Golem film.

About the film

60 min / Color, DVD

Director Amos Gitai / Screenplay Amos Gitai / Dir. of Photography Henri Alekan, Nurith Aviv, Amos Gitai, Laurent Truchot / Editor Amos Gitai / Producer Amos Gitai, Laurent Truchot / Production Agav Films / Cast Annie Lennox, Tonino Guerra, Dominique Sanda / Contact Agav Films, Facets Multi-Media Inc.
www: www.amosgitai.com

About the director

AMOS GITAI Filmography  - full-length feature films: Esther / Esther / Esther, 1986
Berlin-Yerushalaim / Berlín-Jeruzalém / Berlin Jerusalem, 1989
Naissance d´un Golem / Zrození golema / Birth of a Golem, 1991                                                      Golem: L´esprit de l´exil / Golem: Duch vyhranství/ Golem: The Spirit of Exile, 1991
Golem: Le jardin pétrifié / Golem: Zkamenělá zahrada / Golem: The Petrified Garden, 1993
Zihron Devarim / Zihron Devarim / Devarim, 1996
Milim / Slova / Milim, 1996
Yom yom / Den po dni / Day After Day, 1998
Kadosh / Kadosh / Kadosh, 1999
Kippur / Kippur / Kippur, 2000
Eden / Eden / Eden, 2001
Kedma / Kedma / Kedma, 2001
11´09"01: September 11 / 11´09"01 / 11´09"01 (segment), 2002
Alila / Alila / Alila, 2003 Filmography - short and documentary films: Medabrin al ecologia / Hovory o ekologii / Talking About Ecology, 1973
Ahare / Po / After, 1974
Charisma / Charisma / Charisma, 1976
Shikun / Veřejný dům / Public House, 1977
Political Myths / Politické mýty / Political Myths, 1977
Wadi Rushima / Wadi Rushima / Wadi Rushima, 1978
Architectura / Architektura / Architecture, 1978
M´Ora´ot Wadi Salib / M´Ora´ot Wadi Salib / Wadi Salib Riots, 1979
Cultural Celebrities / Kulturní celebrity / Cultural Celebrities, 1979
Bikur Carter be´Israel / Carterova návštěva Izraele / Carter´s Visit to Israel, 1979
In Search of Identity / Hledání identity / In Search of Identity, 1980
Bait / Dům / House, 1980
Wadi / Wadi / Wadi, 1980
American Mythologies / Americké mytologie / American Mythologies, 1981
Yoman sadeh / Venkovský deník / Field Diary, 1982
Reagan: Image for Sale / Reagan: Image na prodej / Reagan: Image for Sale, 1984
Bankok Bahrain / Bangkok Bahrajn / Bankok Bahrain, 1984
Ananas / Ananas / Pineapple, 1984
Brand New Day / Úplně nový den / Brand New Day, 1987
Wadi 1991 / Wadi 1991, 1991
Dans la vallée de la Wupper / V údolí řeky Wupper / In the Valley of the Wupper, 1993
Zirat ha´rezach / Vražedná aréna / The Arena of Murder, 1996
War and Peace in Vesoul / Válka a mír ve Vesoulu / War and Peace in Vesoul, 1997
Tapuz / Pomeranč / Orange, 1998
Bait be Jerushalyim / Dům v Jeruzalémě / A House in Jerusalem, 1998

Contacts

Agav Films
37 Rashi Street, 63265, Tel Aviv
Israel
Fax: +972 3 525 5971
E-mail: [email protected]

Facets Multi-Media Inc.
1517 West Fullerton Ave., IL 60614, Chicago
United States of America
Phone: +1 773 281 9075
Fax: +1 773 929 5437
E-mail: [email protected]

Guests

Ray Privett
Distributor

Amos Gitai
Film Director