Zadok "Duki” Dror ( he, דוקי (צדוק) דרור), (born 1963) is an independent Israeli filmmaker whose films explore issues of migration, identity and displacement.

Biography

Zadok (Duki) Dror was born in Tel Aviv. In the early 1950s, Dror's parents fled from their native

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

for the newly established state of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. When Dror's father was 17 he was arrested on charges of political activism and served five years in prison as a political prisoner. Upon his release, he was not allowed to stay in Iraq. After moving to Israel, the family changed their Arabic name, Darwish (Arabic for "wandering") to Dror (Hebrew for "freedom"). Dror studied in the United States at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

and is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago.

Filmmaking career

Dror's films are character-driven stories and deal with issues of identity, displacement and cross-cultural exchange. His film ''Sentenced to Learn'' (1993), which tells the story of lifetime inmates in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

prisons, was screened in the

Pompidou Center The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

as part of an American Documentary retrospective. The story behind his parents'

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

to Israel and his father's story in particular is the central motif in Dror's personal film diary ''My Fantasia'' (2000) which takes place in the Dror's family-owned Menorah factory between the First and Second Gulf War. The history, culture and identity of Arab Jews has also informed a number of Dror's other work including ''Cafe Noah'' (1996), and '' Shadow in Baghdad'' (2013) about the disappearance of Baghdad's Jewish population and the story of Linda Menuhin's family. In 2010,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

aired a special series of his documentaries.

Awards and recognition

''Raging Dove'' (2002), the story of Arab-Israeli world boxing champion Johar Lashin, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and won multiple awards, including Best Israeli Documentary in

Docaviv Docaviv, subtitled "the Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival" is the only film festival in Israel dedicated to documentary films, and the largest film festival in Tel Aviv. It is run by a non-profit organisation A nonprofit o ...

. In 2006, Dror's film about the

Vietnamese boat people Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its ...

who immigrated to Israel, ''The Journey of Vaan Nguyen'', was the opening film at EBS Film Festival in Seoul and received the Remi Award at Houston Worldfest. In 2012, Dror's film on German-Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn '' Mendelsohn's Incessant Visions'' received the Golden Award(FILAF d'Or) at the International Art Book and Film Festival (FILAF) in France. ''Partner with the Enemy'' (2014) the winner of the Golden Panda Award for long documentary at

Sichuan Television Festival The Sichuan Television Festival (), abbreviated SCTVF, also known as the Sichuang International Television Festival is one of the largest television festivals in East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both ...

. ''Down The Deep, Dark Web'' (2016) – premiered in DOK Leipzig, nominated for the

Ophir Award The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named ...

for Best Documentary under 60 minutes.

Filmography

Director

*1993 Sentenced to Learn *1996 Radio Daz

*1997 Warp & Wef

*1997 Cafe Noa

*1998 Shenkin – A Street of Fait

*1998 Stress *1999 Taqasim *1999 Red Vibes *2000 Watchman *2001 My Fantasia *2002 Raging Dove *2004 Mr. Cortisone Happy Days *2005 The Journey of Van Nguyen *2007 SideWal

*2009 Across the River (film), Across the River *2011 Mendelsohn's Incessant Visions *2013 Shadow in Baghdad *2014 Partner with the Enemy *2016 Down the Deep, Dark Web *2017 Inside The Mossad (TV series) *2018 Inside The Mossad (The Movie)

Producer

*2003 Paradise Lost *2004 Collaborators *2005 A General's Story *2012 Seekers *2013 Photonovela *2016 Praise the Lard

References

External links

"You have to be on the move all the time" Interview with Duki Dror at Takriv Magazine

Duki Dror at New York Times Archive
*
Shadow in Baghdad: Israeli filmmaker Duki Dror chronicles extinction of Iraq’s Jewish community.

Baltimore Examiner ''The Baltimore Examiner'' was a free daily newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland, launched in 2006, ceased publication in 2009. History ''The Baltimore Examiner'' was launched in 2006 by the Philip Anschutz-owned Clarity Media Group as part of a nat ...

BY LARRY LUXNER · NOVEMBER 29, 2013
35 Years on, where are Israel’s Vietnamese refugees?

The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.

, By Simona Weinglass September 20, 2015
Review: 'Down the Deep Dark Web' is a movie every technologist should watch

TechRepublic TechRepublic is an online trade publication and social community for IT professionals, providing advice on best practices and tools for the needs of IT decision-makers. It was founded in 1997 in Louisville, Kentucky, by Tom Cottingham and Kim S ...

By Dan Patterson , July 13, 201
The Dangers of the Deep Web
– The Atlantic 4.8.2016
The Dangers of the Deep Web
The Atlantic 4.8.2016 *
alking With the Past: Architect Erich Mendelsohn on Screen
''GALO Magazine'' by Ross Ufberg February 7, 2012
Incessant Visions: words from the life of Erich Mendelsohn

By Rocco Giansante MAY 3, 2012 * FIFA 2012: Mendelsohn's Incessant Visions is a great film and not just for architecture buffs

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

March 24, 2012
Mendelsohn Building Spurs Monumental Dilemma
Haaretz Keshet Rosenblum Dec 19, 2012
ERICH MENDELSOHN – VISIONEN FÜR DIE EWIGKEIT – KRITIK DER FILMSTARTS-REDAKTION

Shadow In Baghdad Official Film Website

Zygote Films official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dror, Duki Israeli film directors 1963 births Living people Film people from Tel Aviv Columbia College Chicago alumni