Each year the festival Travelling is dedicated to a city and its cinematography. In 2009, it will be Jérusalem.
Jerusalem, eternal city at the crossroads of the world, lively and humane.
Jerusalem, a city torn apart and under tension.
Jerusalem is a multifaceted city that inspires filmmakers.
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Rennes Métropole's film festival 'Travelling' takes you on a journey through the cradle of humanity, on the paths of Jerusalem. Never has such a cinematic retrospective been programmed. The purpose of this event ? To gather for the first time ever a variety of individual cinematographic testimonies on the city of Jerusalem throughout time; from ancient to modern times, through collective and individual memories. Also to wander through and discover this capital city torn apart by years of struggles, torn between spirituality and violence and on perpetual high security alert but which remains nevertheless a major tourist destination. Home of Jewish, Arab and Christian holy sanctuaries, Jerusalem is undoubtedly one of the most filmed city in the world. But the cornucopia of images broadcast on a daily basis in the news often turnout to be but informative and recurrent clichés. Jerusalem inspires film makers and their looks shatter pre-conceived ideas. They enable us to understand History, the stories of the city. But also to become familiar with the intimacy, the daily life of its citizens, and to grasp these peculiar aspects of a city so different from the others. Is it possible to live between this unique light and those millenary stones as one would in any other place worldwide ? From the origins of cinema till today, Travelling invites you to share the vision of Israeli, Palestinian and foreign film directors through a large range of cinematic genres between fiction and reality. The festival invites you to a major retrospective with more than 50 film screenings including rare masterpieces, premieres and major movies: 'In Jerusalem' by David Perlov, 'Kadosh' by Amos Gitaï, 'Divine Intervention' by Elia Suleiman, 'Karov La Bayit' by Vardit Bilu and Dalia Hager 'Like Twenty Impossibles' by Annemarie Jacir or En attendant Saladin by Tawfik Abu Wael Martin Scorcese's 'The Last Temptation of Christ' or Monthy Python's comedy 'Life of Brian' This rare quality screening will be enriched by a panorama of Israeli and Palestinian contemporary cinema whileYaël Fogiel and Hussam Hindi will be given carte blanche and original creations will be on offer during the time of the festival, including cine-concerts, cinema classes, happenings and video performing.
A lot of film directors from the young generation such as Enas I. Muthaffar, Hadar Friedlich, David Volach, Yoav Shamir will actually be present at the festival during this dense and eclectic screening, together with more reknown film makers or experts on the city who should be our guest, including Elia Suleiman,Ronit Elkabetz, Hiam Abbas, Amos Gitaï, Awwad Nahed, Michel Khleifi, Rashid Masharawi, Salim Daw, Charles Enderlin, Jean Daniel. A new project for this 20th edition: « Short film scenario writing » is proposed to anyone willing to adapt writer and film maker Edgar Keret's short story « Petit Déjeuner Santé ». Edgar Keret is one of the most prominent writer of the contemporary Israeli litterature. For those who want to escape momentarily the luminous paths of the Holy City, Travelling also takes you for a ride through its short film competition with a variety of French and international productions. Come and join us for an individual of family journey through time on 'Junior Elephant' back...This junior competition will be supervised this year by Valérie Zenatti who will preside the children's jury together with Grégoire Solotareff. New promising and extravagent cinematographic adventures lie ahead...to share and not to be missed!
Jerusalem program
Jerusalem: retrospective
A rich and original screening on offer for this 20th edition of Travellin film festival. You're warmly invited to discover and feel the beat of a city in its various aspects, throughout a century of history from the Lumières brothers to Dany Rosenberg via Amos Gitaï, Elia Suleiman. Different complementary and opposite perceptions from different film directors each of them inspired by their own story and their own life. European and American film makers transpose the many stories of Christianity, the Palestinian film makers tell us about the diffuculties of living there, going and staying there while their Israeli counterparts tell us stories dealing with many aspects of the daily life: society, politics, religion or history.
Israeli cinema today
Eran Kolirin's The Band's Visit, Joseph Cedar's Beaufort Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir...recent movies which best exemplify the growing recognition of the Israeli cinema today. The screening during the festival covers a wide range of cinematic genres from the most recent Israeli film directors, including Ronit Elkabetz, Dover Kosashvili,Yoav Shamir, Eytan Fox, Ruth Litan, Etgar Keret,Shira Geffen, Ran Tal, Avi Mograbi, Chaim Elbaum… se présente depuis les premières années du nouveau millénaire, avec les signatures de Ronit Elkabetz, Dover Kosashvili, Yoav Shamir, Eytan Fox, Ruth Litan, Etgar Keret, Shira Geffen, Ran Tal, Avi Mograbi, Chaim Elbaum…
Palestinian cinema today
The Palestinian cinematic work, although it is not as famous yet as its Israeli counterpart worldwide remains nevertheless undeniably 'alive and kicking'. Best proof of it... Annemarie Jacir's latest movie 'Salt of this Sea' which was deeply acclaimed at the 2008 Cannes film festival and which can be currently seen in a lot of cinemas in France. Despite a global lack of funds and the total absence of a true network of specialised cinema schools the Palestinians remain extremely resourceful when it comes to making films. During the festival, you will discover this new generation of highly politically involved film makers, such as Zoabi, Jackie Reemsalloun, Annemarie Jacir, Nadine Naous Tawkik Abu Wael, Enas Muthaffar, Cherien Dabis, Najwa Najjar, Ghada Terawi . Zoabi, Jackie Reemsalloun, Annemarie Jacir, Nadine Naous Tawkik Abu Wael, Enas Muthaffar, Cherien Dabis, Najwa Najjar, Ghada Terawi .
Carte Blanche
To complete this wide cinematographic panorama Travelling film festival has decided to give carte blanche to two personnalities. Yaël Fogiel on the one hand. Israeli, three-time winner of the 'caméra d'or' and also film producer for the 'Films du Poisson'. On the other hand, Hussam Hindi Palestinian, co-founder of Travelling film festival, in charge of the screening at Dinard British Film Festival.
They both accepted with obvious pleasure to confront their views on the subject. From France where the two of them work, they each plunged back into their cinematographic memories to come up with an intimate programme , composed of favourites among which 'Avanti Populo' by Rafi Boukaï, 'Life according to Agfa' by Assi Dayan, Paradise Now by Hany Abu-Assad and eventually Michel Khleifi's 'Wedding in Gallile'.
Junior : Travelling for children
Hi! Here he comes again...Elephant Junior...bringing with him lots of lovely surprises and more than ever focused on cinema and literature.
Junior, the young public's festival, continues to hold great respect of the youngsters' opinion and their curiosity and critical sense, especially when they are well-advised. Therefore the festival will be more than ever anchored in a transversal exploration of those two universes. How ? Throughout an eclectic screening of contemporary and classical movies destined to a wide audience together with the creation, production or even the broadcasting of various and original stuff such as cine-concert, cine-tales, debates in collaboration with the city's libraries.
Carte Blanche
This year, the president of the Junior festival, who also presides over the children's jury in the 'Eléphant d'or' competition, will be Valérie Zenatti, a writer who has become a script writer to be able to adapt her own writing on the screen. Junior is also extremely happy to welcome an other guest star, particularly at ease with this young audience, namely, Grégoire Solotareff, father of U, heroin of one of the most accomplished masterpiece in child cinema. They were both given carte blanche and each of them is currently working hard to come up with the best and most personal cinematic program.
