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"Erez's
films are very compelling though he uses little more
than straight-up interviews, and visuals shot in
some of the world's most controversial areas -- taking
tough subjects and without
an evident political agenda, makes a very humane
plea that goes straight to the heart."
Suzette Meyers
Filmmaker, 2006 Vancouver
World
Peace Forum Film Festival Coordinator
Vancouver, BC, Canada
"Yanuv Barzilay clearly did not find what he
expected to find in Gaza:
no militant settlers, no demonstrations, no
barricades against the upcoming turnover. What he
did find is surprising: a land that is, at
first glance, eerily ordinary.
Yet Yanuv Barzilay once again demonstrates his
ability to see beyond the surface as he captures the
ghost-town-like dislocation of a land in shock,
teetering between denial, muted rage and
resignation. Israeli settlements are largely
abandoned; those who remain are shrouded in
distrust.
One feels one is driving though villages ravaged by
a plague. The sense of loss hangs heavy in the
rotting tomatoes, the ripped Israeli flags, the
unspoken words. Is it a graveyard or a powder keg?
The viewer can't decide.
Yet the lingering images are those of the innocent
smiles of the Palestinian children in Rafah and of
the communal sense of loss etched on the faces of
both Israelis and Palestinian workers - images of
what was and what could have been.
Yanuv Barzilay has given us
a once-in-a-lifetime documentary
of a time and place few of us
have ever seen and can never see
again."
Meg Johnstone
Journalist
Vancouver, BC, Canada
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travel to Surreal's World
Premiere supported by: |
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"At
first glance,
it seems almost normal.
But look further,
the villages are nearly empty,
the flags are ripped,
the produce rotting.
This is the
Gaza Strip,
one month before the destruction of the Israeli villages.
The 20 settlements are
almost silent as they form the unlikely backdrop and the
focus of a Canadian road trip.
Both former Israelis, two old friends decide to take a
farewell journey.
What can they find there?
Filmmaker Erez T-Yanuv's Barzilay's panoramic digital
footage contrasts with Dror Marcus' still photographs,
just as the disbelief of the villagers still left
juxtaposes with the smiles of innocent Palestinian
children.
Music by Canadian Ben Euerby sets the score for what is
truly a strange journey.
Surreal: A
Glance at a Land That No Longer Exists offers us a
look past the news clips,
the soldiers,
and the concrete barricades,
with a glance at lost possibilities and living hopes.
The Gaza settlements are gone
-
this time and place exists only on film and in memories."
Jill Fournier
Calgary International Film Festival
A fateful vision of the Gaza Strip
"It
could have been a political movie.
Instead, the former Israeli,
while keeping a
Jewish perspective,
made a movie about
humanity that went beyond national beliefs.
As a result,
the film leaves us with
more questions than answers."
Francis Plourde
Culture Writer
THE
UBYSSEY
22 SEPTEMBER, 2006
Vancouver, BC, Canada
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