Israel, Why

1973, Italy/France, 185m, 35mm

Showtimes & Tickets

Screened November 13–16, 2018

Making his first movie—after realizing that a filmed record made more sense than the originally envisaged book—Lanzmann visited Israel to gather insights on the first 25 years of Israeli statehood. Applying journalistic expertise, he is the onscreen interviewer for tourists, citizens, and soldiers alike; explores the question “Who is a Jew?;” and takes note of the immigrant influx. “The non-paradoxical normality Ben Gurion set out as an ideal… will not happen soon,” he later opined.

In English, German, Russian, French, and Hebrew with English subtitles

November 13th screening introduced by Lanzmann assistant Laura Koeppel

A film by Claude Lanzmann