AVENGE BUT ONE OF MY TWO EYES (2005)
Director: Avi Mograbi
Duration: 100 minutes
The film plunges us into the thick of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With the second intifada raging and the Palestinians in greater frustration and despair than ever, Mograbi places his faith in the power of dialogue, with the Palestinians besieged and the Israeli army everywhere. To sustain his argument, the director raises the legends of Samson & Delilah and Massada, which taught early Zionists that death is preferable to surrender. This film was born of Avi Mograbi’s intention to reconsider the story of Masada, the fortress emblematic of the Jewish Zealots’ uprising against Roman occupation in the 1st century AD, in a new light, by transposing the action to today’s breaking news stories. Mograbi explains: “You have to be aware that we Israelis have always been brought up so as to regard Zealots as heroes and freedom fighters that we should identify with… But historian Josephus Flavius in the book ‘The War of the Jews’ told an altogether different story: the Zealots of Masada are described as murderers, robbers, bandits and extreme nationalists – and definitely not as people to look up to. So i thought it was important to retell the story of Masada. Besides, the fact that the Zealots committed suicide also reflected on today’s Palestinian suicide bombers.”
Sunday, 15th October 2006 at 6.30 pm
Duration: 100 minutes
The film plunges us into the thick of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With the second intifada raging and the Palestinians in greater frustration and despair than ever, Mograbi places his faith in the power of dialogue, with the Palestinians besieged and the Israeli army everywhere. To sustain his argument, the director raises the legends of Samson & Delilah and Massada, which taught early Zionists that death is preferable to surrender. This film was born of Avi Mograbi’s intention to reconsider the story of Masada, the fortress emblematic of the Jewish Zealots’ uprising against Roman occupation in the 1st century AD, in a new light, by transposing the action to today’s breaking news stories. Mograbi explains: “You have to be aware that we Israelis have always been brought up so as to regard Zealots as heroes and freedom fighters that we should identify with… But historian Josephus Flavius in the book ‘The War of the Jews’ told an altogether different story: the Zealots of Masada are described as murderers, robbers, bandits and extreme nationalists – and definitely not as people to look up to. So i thought it was important to retell the story of Masada. Besides, the fact that the Zealots committed suicide also reflected on today’s Palestinian suicide bombers.”
Sunday, 15th October 2006 at 6.30 pm