Replay MemoryHumans have always been fascinated by history. We search for traces of the past; we collect, analyse, interpret them. We try to make sense of the past, we want to understand and come to terms with it. The three films in Replay Memory use very different materials and approaches to explore Israel’s history.
«Belated Measures» by Nir Evron is based on rare footage from the archives of the paramilitary underground organization Lehi (Lohamei Herut Israel: Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), which was active during the British Mandate for Palestine. The footage analysed by the filmmaker is partly documentary in nature, partly, it was staged by Lehi. Evron reveals details about his research and shares his observations and speculations, discussing the relationship between war and photography, documentation and propaganda, visual traces and destruction. What is the significance of historical evidence in the moment of its interpretation? What role does the zeitgeist play, and to what extent is history malleable?
«Tashlikh (Cast Off)» by Yael Bartana references the Jewish new year’s custom of throwing breadcrumbs into a body of water to ask God for forgiveness for one’s sins. In her artistic work, Bartana often explores how collective memory shapes Israel’s sense of national identity. Identity is not stable but constantly in flux, subject to redefinition. The filmmaker invited both victims and perpetrators of the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, and the ethnic cleansings in Sudan and Eritrea to dispose of material possessions connected to their traumatic past. In the film, these objects are falling in slow motion, at varying speeds, against a black background, some individually, some in groups. The images are accompanied by a hypnotic soundtrack, interrupted by moments of silence. A meditative and powerful way of processing the past and overcoming trauma.
With «Another Planet», Amir Yatziv presents an animated documentary about virtual models of Auschwitz, questioning the relationship between reality and digital worlds. The film follows the creators of these simulated worlds and explores the obsession with representing the Holocaust: a journey into the depths of memory and the human fascination with reconstruction and documentation. The virtual simulations were created for a variety of reasons: a German prosecution department designed a simulation to investigate a 94-year-old defendant; a 27-year-old Israeli software developer is inspired by his belief in reincarnation and aims to reconstruct his former life in a «Sonderkommando»; a German architect who has been measuring the camp for 15 years builds a high-precision computer model in collaboration with an Israeli historian. We follow the avatars of these creators through their respective virtual versions of Auschwitz. Do computer-based models offer new opportunities for representing memory and coping with trauma?
As different as these films are, together they offer a well-rounded image of approaches to history, using events that are crucial to the history of Israel.
Curated by John Canciani and Gabriela Seidel-Hollaender
Mit freundlicher Unterstützung von: