Synopsis:
Footsteps in Jerusalem is a tribute to David Perlov, the forefather of modern Israeli documentary cinema, and to his revolutionary film In Jerusalem, 50 years after its making. The film, which won the bronze medal at the Venice Film Festival in 1963, was produced at a time when Jerusalem was divided between Jordan and Israel by “no-man’s land” and sniper fire. Footsteps in Jerusalem offered a change from the “Zionist” patriotic, propagandist and outdated cinema to a cinema that is personal-artistic. It paved the way for dozens of documentary filmmakers and for the success and recognition Israeli documentary cinema receives worldwide today.

In 2013, Renen Schorr, Founding-Director of the Sam Spiegel Film & TV School – Jerusalem, asked top graduates and students to create short films inspired by Perlov, from their own personal perspective, 50 years after In Jerusalem. Nine select films were curated with the original In Jerusalem to form a new, inter-generational film about a city that has dramatically changed – politically, demographically, economically and culturally. The new films are surprising and different from one another in style and content – political, biting, personal – yet the filmmakers are all students and followers of Perlov. The inspiration they derive from him brings to the screen a sober love for Perlov, for cinema and for Jerusalem.

On 12.12.13, a decade after Perlov’s passing, the films will be screened as an international event at 50 museums, cinematheques, art house cinemas and film schools in Israel and worldwide.

Footsteps in Jerusalem will be premiered at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, on 10.12.13. 

Curator: Renen Schorr
Production: The Sam Spiegel Film & TV School, Jerusalem
Producers: Renen Schorr, Rami Shemesh, Ariel Richter
Development: Einat Ohana
Chief Editor: Neta Dvorkis
Original Score: Rafi Kadishzon



Screening locations

The Israel Museum Jerusalem, The Museum of Modern Art New York, The Jewish Cultural Center Sao Paulo, Museum of Art Ein Harod, Museum Ludwig Cologne, Film Museum Munich, Film Museum Budapest, Film Museum Shanghai, Danish Film Institute Copenhagen, cinemathequeKOFA Seoul, The Documentary Film Centre Moscow, The National Museum Tirana, Rato Ghar Art Centre, Kathmandu, Jerusalem Cinematheque, Tel Aviv Cinematheque, Haifa Cinematheque, Herzlia Cinematheque, Holon Cinematheque, Sderot Cinematheque, Rosh Pina Cinematheque, Cinémathèque Québécoise Montreal, Cinémathèque Suisse Lausanne, Bulgarian National Film Archive Sofia, Obala Meeting Point Sarajevo, Filmoteca de Catalunya Barcelona, Cineteca Nacional Mexico City, Cinemateca de Argentina Buenos Aires, Cinemateca Uruguaya Montevideo, Kinoteka Ljubljana, SKENA UP Festival Pristina, Kongi’s Harvest Art Centre Lagos, Cinema Splendid Palace Riga, Indian Habitat Centre Delhi, Nandan Theatres Kolkata, Bozar Cinema Brussels, Labia Theatre Cape Town, Tuškanac Cinema Zagreb, Světozor Cinema Prague, Babylon Cinema Berlin, Agrafka Cinema Krakow, Lab Cinema Warszawa, Cinema Victoria Cluj, Mladosť Cinema Bratislava, Queen’s Film Theatre Belfast, LenDoc Studio Cinema St. Petersburg, Centro Multimeios Espinho, Tel Hai College, LFS – London Film School, University of Vienna, Shota Rustaveli Theater and Film Tbilisi, Cultural Centre PUCP University Lima, Film School Yaoundé

87 minuta