Description of a Memory

Director: Dan Geva
Israel 2006 80 mins
Language: English, Hebrew, Arabic, French with English narration and English subtitles.
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Inspired by Description of a Struggle, Chris Marker’s 1960 cinematic essay on the new state of Israel, filmmaker Dan Geva sets out to address the state of the nation half a century on. With great visual flair, Israeli-born Geva links his nation’s past and present through thirteen ‘memories’ charting its moral and ideological shifts. Geva attempts to track down key figures from Marker’s film, most poignantly the beautiful twelve-year-old girl who came to symbolise the hopes and dreams of the young Jewish state.

Geva and his wife Noit developed this project over a period of fifteen years, editing from more than 160 hours of footage a truly unique update of Marker’s original film, and a striking meditation on contemporary Israel in its own right. Marker has praised “the sheer beauty of the film itself...the perfection of the soundtrack and the boldness of the image”. Screening alongside Marker’s film, Description of a Memory is set to be a deserved highlight of the festival. SM

The film will be introduced by Alisa Lebow currently convening the MA in Documentary Practice at Brunel University. Dr. Lebow is a film scholar and director of several films, including Treyf. She is currently working on a new film called Hitler's Birthday about April 20th, which happens to be a birthday she shares... After the screening, Dr Lebow will be signing her new book First Person Jewish (University of Minnesota Press), which will be available for purchase at the ICA bookshop.