Guy Davidi has gone from being a largely unknown Israeli anarchist to Academy Award nominated director in a short time. His recent work, 5 Broken Cameras, was co-directed with Emad Burnat and offers an intensely up-close account of the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.
Davidi illuminates the making of the film and his role as a gentle provocateur for Israel and the world.
Watch new episodes of BYOD live each week on Tuesdays at noon on TheLip.TV, or tune in for the archived replay starting here on the following Thursday.
ABOUT BYOD:
BYOD is hosted by Ondi Timoner, director of “DIG!,” “JOIN US” and “WE LIVE IN PUBLIC,” and has the rare distinction of winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice. Each week the show explores a different documentary filmmaker or aspect of filmmaking, with special guests and a live Q&A– diving deep into creative process and the business realities of producing and distributing films. Ondi shares her insider views, opinions, and personal stories, welcoming audience participation. BYOD aims to entertain, inform, and elevate documentaries in general by bringing attention to films and film makers that deserve exposure.
GUEST BIO:
Guy Davidi is a documentary filmmaker and cinema teacher who has been directing, editing, and shooting films since the age of 16. Davidi has directed many short documentaries, such as In Working Progress, Keywords, and Women Defying Barriers. His first feature film, Interrupted Streams, premiered in 2010 at the Jerusalem International Film Festival.Five Broken Cameras—and each one has a powerful tale to tell. Embedded in the bullet-ridden remains of digital technology is the story of Emad Burnat, a farmer from the Palestinian village of Bil’in, which famously chose nonviolent resistance when the Israeli army encroached upon its land to make room for Jewish colonists. Emad buys his first camera in 2005 to document the birth of his fourth son, Gibreel. Over the course of the film, he becomes the peaceful archivist of an escalating struggle as olive trees are bulldozed, lives are lost, and a wall is built to segregate burgeoning Israeli settlements.
Gibreel’s loss of innocence and the destruction of each camera are potent metaphors in a deeply personal documentary that vividly portrays a conflict many of us think we know. Emad Burnat, a Palestinian, joins forces with Guy Davidi, an Israeli, and—from the wreckage of five broken cameras—two filmmakers create one extraordinary work of art.
ADD’L LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/5BrokenCameras?group_id=0
http://www.kinolorber.com/5brokencameras/
EPISODE BREAKDOWN:
00:01 Welcoming Guy Davidi (fresh from the Oscars).
02:10 Focusing a thousand hours of footage into a film with Emad.
06:20 Interrupted Streams and the interest in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
10:47 The machismo of Israeli society.
13:48 Five Broken Cameras, Clip.
18:03 Including personal moments in Five Broken Cameras.
22:00 Five Broken Cameras, Clip.
26:08 Editing the film and the narration.
28:34 The initial groundwork for making the Five Broken Cameras, In Working Progress.
30:31 In Working Progress, Clip.
32:13 Reaction to the film and creating a ‘gentle discourse.’
38:26 Five Broken Cameras, Clip.
40:02 Hopes for the impact of the film.
44:37 Constructing the character of Emad from a real person.
48:00 Five Broken Cameras, Clip.
52:35 Final words on the Oscars, Searching For Sugarman and the ideal of modesty.
I am very keen to see the short film Five Broken Cameras. Where do I get to view it ?