How Did a High Culture Film Project Become the Largest Documentary Project in Israel?
The Tel Aviv University Alumni Organization, headed by Sigalit Ben Hayoun, held a webinar with Yair Qedar – Creator of the award-winning series The Hebrews and an alumnus of the Multidisciplinary Program in the Humanities and the Department of Hebrew Literature at the Faculty of Humanities, and Benjamin Tobias – Film Critic for Yedioth Ahronoth and an alumnus of the School of Film and Television at the Faculty of Arts.
At the beginning of the interview, Benjamin Tobias asked Yair Qedar about his period of study at the Faculty of Humanities in light of the fact that he knew from a young age that his professional career would be in the world of cinema. Qedar replied that he chose the humanities rather than film school because he wanted to experience other fields to get to know the world better before making his first film. Qedar then addressed the current projects he’s currently working on and the challenges he faces as a filmmaker:
“After the 16 films of The Hebrews, with the characters of the Hebrew, Jewish and Yiddish poets and writers, I felt the need to take a step back, towards the characters who stand behind our identity –half in Judaism, half in modernity, and all of whom shaped some significant part of us. The new films are currently in production, about Baruch Spinoza directed by David Ofek, and focusing on boycotts and freedom of thought; about Karl Marx, directed by Benjamin Freidenberg, about Marx’s place in our contemporary reality, and the Israeli activism inspired by him through his life story; and about Sigmund Freud, a film I am directing, which celebrates the centennial of the invention of the ego, an invention no one is exempt from in modern times”.
Qedar also addressed the economic aspect of the work:
“The issue of funding is always a challenge – many films fall by the wayside, and I’d be happy if additional resources would allow for the creation of more films. We have a wonderful past, and The Hebrews are an excellent way of celebrating it, diving into it and getting to know it. As A. B. Yehoshua said in The Hebrews film about himself, ‘All the past is still ahead of us’.”
Among the alumni who watched the live webinar were Nava Michael-Tsabari, Director of the Raya Strauss Center for Family Business Research and a Faculty Member at the Tel Aviv University, Ela Meiras, Court Judge, Avi Nudler, an Entrepreneur and Owner of HT, and many others.
