Avi Mograbi ( he, אבי מוגרבי; born May 9, 1956) is an Israeli documentary

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

Life and career

Mograbi's grandfather founded The Mograbi Cinema ''(Kolnoa Mograbi)'', an Art Deco movie theatre in downtown

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. Opened in 1930, it was probably Israel's most famous movie theater. It was the site of one of the largest celebrations following the 1948 partition and remained a vital national landmark until its demolition in the 1990s. Avi Mograbi was born in Tel Aviv to migrant parents. His mother fled to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

(at that time

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...

) in the 1930s; his father was born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

to an Arab-speaking Jewish family. Like all Israeli citizens over the age of 18, he was required to join the

Israel Defence Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

for military service. He was a non-combatant He became a reservist, and when in 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon, he was recruited to serve as a combatant. He conscientiously objected and was jailed. He studied philosophy at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

from 1979 to 1982, and art at HaMidrasha Art School,

Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon ( he, רָמַת הַשָּׁרוֹן, ''lit.'' '' Sharon Heights'', ar, رمات هشارون) is a city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon region, bordering Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon t ...

. After working as an assistant director in local and foreign films and commercials, he began making films in 1989. Since 1999 he has taught documentary and experimental filmmaking at the University of Tel Aviv, at Jerusalem's Sam Spiegel Film and Television School and art academy and at the

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design ( he, בצלאל, אקדמיה לאמנות ועיצוב) is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. In 2004, he became one of the founding members of Breaking the Silence, an Israeli non-governmental organisation intended to give serving and discharged Israeli personnel and

reservist A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is ...

s a means to confidentially recount their experiences in the

Occupied Territories Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...

. Collections of such accounts have been published in order to educate the Israeli public about conditions in these areas. His non-fiction films examine the Israel-Palestinian conflict using provocative and self-reflexive methods. His film, ''Avenge But One of My Two Eyes'', which was screened out of competition at the

2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival started on 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on 21 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Belgium, Belgian film ''L'Enfant (film), L'Enfant ...

, investigates and critiques the paradoxes of Israeli society—which on one hand celebrates age old myths and tales of destruction and violence (for example The Siege of Masada and

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

) while condemning

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

for resorting to similar acts of violence. In June 2014, Avi Mograbi was the first special guest invited by the Open City Docs Fest, who organised a retrospective of his work and also a new edition and live performance of ''The Details'', initially presented at the University Rennes 2.

Filmography

*''Deportation'' (1989, short) *''The Reconstruction'' (1994) *''How I Learned to Overcome My Fear and Love Ariel Sharon'' (1997) *''Happy Birthday, Mr. Mograbi'' (1999) *''August: A Moment Before the Eruption'' (2002) *''Wait it's the soldiers, I have to hang up now'' (2002, short) *''Detail'' (2004, short) *''Avenge But One of My Two Eyes'' (2005) *''Mrs Goldstein'' (2006, short) * ''Z32'' (2008) *''Once I Entered a Garden'' (2012) * ''Between Fences'' (2016) *''The First 54 Years: An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation'' (2021)

References

External links

*
Interview with Avi Mograbi on his film ''Avenge But One of My Two Eyes''
1956 births Living people Israeli documentary filmmakers Israeli film directors {{Israel-film-director-stub