Children of the Sun

Director: Ran Tal
Israel 2007 70 mins
Language: Hebrew with English subtitles

In the early 20th century, members of the Zionist movement sought to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. They also started an experiment in collective living that they hoped would revolutionise the nature of society itself: the kibbutz.

On these collective farms, idealistic men and women attempted to create utopian communities where everything was shared, even the raising of children. The tens of thousands of children born on the Israeli kibbutzim in the 1920s and 1930s became known as the “Children of the Sun”, and grew up completely outside of the traditional nuclear family structure.

The richly-textured documentary Children of the Sun traces the experience of this unique generation, and the joys and wounds they still bear after all these years. Through home movies, vintage children’s songs, rare recordings of kibbutz life spanning 1930 -1980 and interviews with these now adult “children of the sun”, the film explores a controversial era that has become central to the history and mythology of Israel.

The film’s producer, Amir Harel will attend the screening, which will be followed by a Q&A

‘a fascinating collage of archival materials…that brings to life the kibbutz
experiment in collective living’ Variety

‘The viewer is instantly charmed by these images of vulnerable and
beautiful children and is caught up in the drama of their lives.’
The Jerusalem Post