Arquivo / 49ª mostra

The film revolves around a journey to Palestine undertaken by two women, the expressionist German poet Else Lasker-Schüller and Mania Shohat, a Zionist pioneer from Russia, whose fates interlock in the realms of their dreams about Jerusalem turned into reality. Images from Berlin’s cafés are juxtaposed with scenes of the dry barren mountains around Jerusalem leading to a reflection on the loss of utopias, and the struggles and disillusions behind every quest. Based on the biographies of these two real-life characters, Gitai’s screenplay strips the figure of Israel’s pioneers from their heroic aura by depicting them as ordinary human beings, susceptible to basic emotions such as fear and doubt.

Winner of the Critics’ Award at the 1989 Venice Festival.