FILM FESTIVAL-VENICE/RABIN THE LAST DAY Film on killing of Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin premieres at Venice

Record ID: 141621

  • Title: FILM FESTIVAL-VENICE/RABIN THE LAST DAY Film on killing of Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin premieres at Venice
  • Date: 7th September 2015
  • Summary: VENICE, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 7, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, AMOS GITAI, SAYING ON WHY HE CHOSE TO MAKE HIS MOVIE AS BOTH DOCUMENTARY AND FEATURE FILM: "No, since I chose Rabin himself is not represented in the film, he's like the big black hole of the film because I think a leader like Rabin, or Kennedy or any big leader they have too much of an aura in our memory. So, the film is constructed around this black hole and then these moments are represented by documents, we had a very big part of our staff working on research of video documents and also the entire film is factual, so we had a lot of elements that were contributing to the writing of the screenplay." WIDE OF GITAI BEING INTERVIEWED CLOSE OF GITAI WEARING SUNGLASSES (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, AMOS GITAI, SAYING: "Peace is not a unilateral matter and Rabin said it in very nicely in the last part of the film. It's a piece that I shot with Rabin when I followed his journey to Cairo and he's against any unilateral act. He says, if we withdraw from Gaza we have to make sure that people will get salaries. There will be water, there will be electricity. So, peace is like any relationship. The other should exist. You cannot make peace just by protecting your own interests. You have take into account the other side and I think this is a completely different way of thinking from what we see now." ARRIVAL OF CARS FOR PRESS CONFERENCE GITAI STEPPING OUT OF CAR AND WAVING TO FANS CAMERAS / GITAI MEETING FANS GITAI AUTOGRAPH BEING SIGNED / GITAI
  • Embargoed: 22nd September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6J5ZL5LMH8SP476K0ISL420J0
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Israeli director, Amos Gitai, attended the Venice Film Fesival on Monday (September 7) for the premiere of his movie "Rabin, The Last Day" looking at events surrounding the murder of late Israel Yitzhak Rabin.
    The film mixes both original archive footage and a dramatised depiction of real events, beginning with images from the night Rabin was shot and killed at a peace rally in Tel Aviv on November 4, 2015.
    Rabin proved a memorable figure in Israeli politics, garnering strong support and opposition as he had signed The Oslo Accords along with the Palestinian leadership on September 13, 1993. The move was meant to result in a permanent deal within five years, providing two states for two peoples.
    This angered radicals and Gitai's film studies the strength of feeling some in Israel had against Rabin at the time of his killing by Yigal Amir, a 25 year-old Orthodox Jew.
    Amir said he shot the former general to stop him from handing parts of the biblical "Land of Israel", to the Palestinians in peace negotiations.
    "So, I think that we have to, we have to try to capture this moment, this very brief moment of real sincere effort, maybe the only moment of sincere effort to reconcile this almighty Israeli, Palestinian conflict and to go back to it and maybe try to put it back on track," said Gitai, when asked to explain why he made the movie.
    Many of the film's dramatised scenes look at the Shamgar Commission, which was set-up to investigate the murder of Rabin and led by President of the Supreme Court, Meir Shamgar.
    "They had a limited mandate, which is to just investigate the operational failures. But in a way the film itself is the real investigation committee. The film is dealing with calls to incitement, to take out the government which was elected democratically. And different forces, different vectors try to destabilise it. Since Rabin was determined to move forward it ended by killing him," said the director.
    Gitai also commented on how the complexion of the Middle East could be very different today if Rabin had never been shot.
    "Peace is not a unilateral matter and Rabin said it very nicely in the last part of the film. It's a piece that I shot with Rabin when I followed his journey to Cairo and he's against any unilateral act. He says if we withdraw from Gaza we have to make sure that people will get salaries. There will be water, there will be electricity. So, peace is like any relationship. The other should exist. You cannot make peace just by protecting your own interests. You have take into account the other side and I think this is a completely different way of thinking from what we see now," he said.
    Gitai chose to focus closely on events leading up to the killing and the aftermath of the Israeli leader's death, with, Rabin often shown in archive footage as the film jumps between a documentary and more feature style.
    "No, since I chose Rabin himself is not represented in the film, he's like the big black hole of the film because I think a leader like Rabin, or Kennedy or any big leader they have too much of an aura in our memory. So, the film is constructed around this black hole and then these moments are represented by documents, we had a very big part of our staff working on research of video documents and also the entire film is factual, so we had a lot of elements that were contributing to the writing of the screenplay."
    Gitai later attended a press conference for the movie and began by calling for a moment's silence to remember the mother of a Palestinian toddler killed in a July arson attack in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, who died on Monday of her burns. The move drew the cast, crew and many of the audience to their feet in silence.
    "Rabin, The Last Day" is competing In Competition at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, and Gitai will find out if he has picked up the Golden Lion on September 12.
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