Surreal - a glance at a land that no longer exists 
| Directed by: | Erez Barzilay |
|---|---|
| Written by: | Erez Barzilay |
| Country: | Canada |
| Created: | 2006 |
| Runtime: | 93 min. |
| Member: | SLP-HD |
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Film Description:
Synopsis
Two former Israeli friends, one lives in Canada, the other in Cambodia, on a farewell visit to the Israeli occupied Gaza Strip. The result, a dramatic and emotional panoramic drive through 20 Israeli settlements dotting the Gaza Strip, one month prior to their inevitable destruction. Most people they encounter are trying to deny their imminent fate. They are surrounded by concrete barricades and electronic fences, with massive armed forces buffering the diminishing Israeli presence from the independence seeking Palestinians. In a land filled with chaos and contradictions, Surreal takes a lyrical journey into the madness through the lenses of the two former Israelis. Surreal plays with the balance between Dror’s still photography and Erez’s moving images. Both immersed in a haunting and dramatic original score (composed by Ben Euerby). Surreal uniquely engages with the different mediums to build tension and play between past, present and future. A surreal glance at a land that no longer exists. http://ShaiLahProductions/Surreal
Forms: Documentary, Feature
Genres: Family, Educational, Religious, Nature, Human Rights, Independent, Road Trip, Surreal, War/Peace, Environmental, Period/Historical, Action/Adventure, Reality, Culture
Niches: Islamic, Jewish
Screenings & Events
Ecofilms Int' film+visual arts Festival
Film Festival
Awards: WORLD PREMIERE
Rhodes, Greece
June 2006
World Peace Forum
Film Festival
Awards: CANADIAN PREMIERE
Vancouver, Canada
June 2006
Public Screening
Theatrical
Jerusalem, Israel
July 2006
Golden Apricot
Film Festival
Awards: ASIAN PREMIERE
Yerevan, Armenia
July 2006
Congregation Har El Presents
a Benefit Screening
OTHER
Awards: special public screening
Vancouver, Canada
September 2006
Festival Cinemas and Doculink Presents
a Benefit Screening
OTHER
Awards: special public screening
Vancouver, Canada
September 2006
Calgary International Film Festival
Film Festival
Calgary, Canada
September 2006
Rome International Film Festival
Film Festival
Rome, GA, U S A
September 2006
Cast & Crew
Dror Marcus (Associate Producer), Erez Barzilay (Producer, Executive Producer, Director)
WritingErez Barzilay (Writer)
CameraDror Marcus (Additional Photography), Erez Barzilay (Cinematographer/DP)
Post ProductionErez Barzilay (Picture Editor), Erez Barzilay (Sound Editor)
MusicBen Euerby (Original Music/Composer)
RepresentationErez Yanuv Barzilay (Manager)
Surreal has not yet posted any blog entries.
Morag: tanks and flowers
director Erez T Yanuv Barzilay in action
Netzer Hazani: the first Israeli village in the Gaza Strip, est. 1977
Rafiah Yam: military road block to the Rafah refugee camp
Mawasi: happy Palestinian kids on the way to school
drive through a land that will cease to exist in a month
3 Comments about Surreal - a glance at a land that no longer exists
Dec 27, 2006 12:10AM
THE UBYSSEY FRIDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER, 2006 CULTURE
A fateful vision of the Gaza Strip
SURREAL: A GLANCE AT A LAND THAT NO LONGER EXISTS
Fifth Avenue Cinemas, September 14
by Francis Plourde
CULTURE WRITER
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“THE FORMER ISREALI, 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.”
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In December 2003, Ariel Sharon, then Prime Minister of Israel, announced his plan for a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza strip.
The small piece of land, about 360 square kilometres, was home to 8.500 Jewish settlers and 1.3 millions Palestinians.
Forty years of colonialism sponsored by the Israeli government was about to be destroyed. Officially, the evacuation of 21 villages and the displacement of an unknown number of inhabitants was supposed to increase the security of residents of Israel, relieve pressure on the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and reduce friction between Israelis and Palestinians.
By mid-July 2005, Erez T Yanuv Barzilay, an Israeli filmmaker now living in Vancouver, famous for documentaries on humanitarian situations, went with a friend to the Gaza Strip for a farewell visit.
This was just a month prior to the withdrawal and a year prior into the Israeli invasion in the summer of 2006.
On their journey, they met Jewish settlers, as well as Palestinian youngsters and immigrants from elsewhere, invited in Israel to replace the Palestinians with whom the Israelis used to live and work ‘’peacefully.’’
They drove through a land surrounded by barricades and electronic fences, with Israeli forces in an area where the frontiers are still to be defined. They saw a population denying its imminent departure, villages waiting for their death.
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. How could the Israeli settlers be prepared for this withdrawal?
Erez T Yanuv Barzilay escaped from the tricks of making a movie about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and refused to take a political stand, only questioning the Israeli government for the decision to build the villages decades before.
If the two producers—Barzilay and Dror Marcus, his Israeli friend from Cambodia, who took digital images inserted in the movie—fail to present a clear answer, their work is well-documented and gives an excellent background to anyone who follows this ongoing conflict from the outside.
It would be a shame not to mention Ben Euerby’s work on the film’s music. The Vancouver composer created an introspective atmosphere as important as the images themselves.
And now, a year after the withdrawal, what remains of these villages? According to the filmmaker, nothing. The Israeli government destroyed some.
The Palestinians destroyed the others. Erez T Yanuv Barzilay has his reasons to condemn the Palestinians for this destruction. The Palestinians have theirs. Here begins, again, the political debate. u
Dec 25, 2006 10:25PM
hello everyone.
please take a moment to check the latest review of Surreal:
http://shailahproductions.com/Surreal/A%20fateful%20vision.pdf
with Surreal gaining more great reviews and screenings, a few weeks ago A Cry for Madiom's festival cycle has come to an uplifting conclusion with a full 400 sit hall screening. The Victoria Amnesty International Film Festival was the first Canadian festival to screen Madiom after 23 other international festival screenings and 5 awards.
my next move will be trying to complete the 15 years in the making Cambodia: Days of Hope feature documentary project.
Darfur and Rwanda are also both strongly on mind for a possible daring new feature documentary adventure to be taken soon.
it is hard to describe how lucky i feel with all the good hearts and unrelenting support i witnessed during the past few months.
this has strengthened my commitment to continue and work on the stories close to my heart and which i feel so passionate to continue telling.
I wish you only the best for the new year and warmest greetings for this holidays season.
thank you so much for being part of my life.
Erez T Yanuv Barzilay - Director
Aug 29, 2006 02:33AM
please visit Surreal's website:
http://ShaiLahProductions.com/Surreal
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