Country: Germany
Year: 2011
Duration: 63'
A young man with artistic ambitions lives in a big house with his father, who is forced to do a job which give him no satisfaction whatsoever. Above them hover the memory of his dead mother and their bonds with the unspecified land they come from. “I combined three Joseph characters from Antiquity times: first is the biblical one which also appears in the Koran. Second is the father of Jesus. Third is Josephus Flavius, a rebel who in the year 67 betrayed his comrades, Jews, revolting against the Roman Empire. [...] I wanted to tell the story of those who ran away. So many wonderful fruits have come to man by running away. Abbas Kiarostami once stated that ‘trees that are moved do not bear fruit,’ referring to his fellow filmmakers who went to exile after the revolution in Iran. By saying that, he not only hurt those specific persons, but he also showed contempt to the fundamentals on which humanity is based. By leaving a place, indeed, it’s harder to make naturalistic films. And as Naturalism is a lie, presenting itself as a truth, I’d rather tell a truth that presents itself as a lie.”
Biography
film director
Lior Shamriz
Lior Shamriz (Ashkelon, Israel, 1978) moved to Tel Aviv at 18 years of age to dedicate himself to visual arts and music. He then studied film at the Jerusalem Film School and at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. His self-produced medium-length film Japan Japan (2007) was presented at over fifty international events, including the festivals in Locarno and Sarajevo and BAFICI in Buenos Aires, as well as participating in the program dedicated to emerging directors at New York’s MoMA. His first feature-length film, Saturn Returns, was presented at the 2009 Torino Film Festival, was nominated for the Max Ophüls Award and received a prize at the Achtung Berlin Film Festival.
FILMOGRAFIA
filmografia/filmography
Infantile (cm, 2005), Return to the Savanna (cm, 2005), Ho! Khutz Nora (cm, 2006), Before the Flowers of Friendship Faded Friendship Faded (cm, 2007), Japan Japan (mm, 2007), The Magic Desk (cm, 2009), Saturn Returns (2009), Return Return (cm, 2010), Mirrors for Princes (2011).
Cast
& Credits
regia, sceneggiatura, produttore/director, screenplay, producer
Lior Shamriz
fotografia/cinematography
David Schmitt
scenografia/production design
Ole Kloss
musica/music
Valentin Silvestrov
suono/sound
Assaf Gidron
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters
Horst-Günter Marx (un padre/a Father), Imri Kahn (un figlio/a Son), Hayedeh (una madre morta/a Dead Mother), Rabbi Georges (una nonna/a Grandmother), Liam Ward (un postino morto/a Dead Postman)
produzione, vendita all’estero/production, world sales
Jehuti Motion Pictures
