Koudelka: Shooting Holy Land
Director Gilad Baram, Koudelka’s assistant at the time, follows him on his journey through the Holy Land from one enigmatic and visually spectacular location to another. In each location – soon to become a new “Koudelka photo” – a new scene unfolds, gradually introducing us to Koudelka’s method of working and his perception of the world he is documenting as well as the people he encounters.
| Director | Gilad Baram |
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What if the secret of a successful photo was managing to capture what we didn’t see? This is the lesson from the old master for his young student who assists him and follows him everywhere, but also for us, the viewers. Here in the Holy Land, probably one of the most media-covered regions in the entire world, Josef Koudelka observes, says little and waits. He tirelessly searches for his frame, and when he finds it, a childlike smile lights up his furrowed face. He was also a kid who grew up behind a wall, who had to flee his country and who manages to capture all the absurdity of the construction of this “safety barrier” between Israel and Palestine. Over the months, returning again and again to the same landscapes, Gilad Baram gives us the time to understand how a photo, a vision, is constructed and this is the strength of this simple, spot-on film. It’s rare that a documentary has been able to get this close to a photographer at work – and what a photographer!
Éva Tourrent
Filmmaker and Tënk's Artistic Director, France
- Année 2015
- Pays Czech Republic, Germany
- Durée 73
- Producteur Nowhere films, Produkce Radim Prochazka
- Langue English, Hebrew, Arab
- Sous-titres French
- Résumé court How does Josef Koudelka produce a photo in the field?
- Compositeur Tobias Purfürst
- Mention festival
- Programmateur Éva Tourrent|Filmmaker and artistic director of Tënk;
- Feministe equitable
What if the secret of a successful photo was managing to capture what we didn’t see? This is the lesson from the old master for his young student who assists him and follows him everywhere, but also for us, the viewers. Here in the Holy Land, probably one of the most media-covered regions in the entire world, Josef Koudelka observes, says little and waits. He tirelessly searches for his frame, and when he finds it, a childlike smile lights up his furrowed face. He was also a kid who grew up behind a wall, who had to flee his country and who manages to capture all the absurdity of the construction of this “safety barrier” between Israel and Palestine. Over the months, returning again and again to the same landscapes, Gilad Baram gives us the time to understand how a photo, a vision, is constructed and this is the strength of this simple, spot-on film. It’s rare that a documentary has been able to get this close to a photographer at work – and what a photographer!
Éva Tourrent
Filmmaker and Tënk's Artistic Director, France
- Année 2015
- Pays Czech Republic, Germany
- Durée 73
- Producteur Nowhere films, Produkce Radim Prochazka
- Langue English, Hebrew, Arab
- Sous-titres French
- Résumé court How does Josef Koudelka produce a photo in the field?
- Compositeur Tobias Purfürst
- Mention festival
- Programmateur Éva Tourrent|Filmmaker and artistic director of Tënk;
- Feministe equitable
