An inspiring panel discussion with five filmmakers on their award-winning films, and the ways in which they shed light on some of the most painful stories in our society. 

“Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant” What do Eritrean refugees, sexual assault survivors and contract workers all have in common?

 All are victims of prevalent mechanisms of power, people whom no one really sees, whose painful stories unfold in the dark, away from the public eye. And they are also people, and stories, who were first brought to light in bold documentaries made by groundbreaking filmmakers. We are proud to turn the spotlight on three films and five filmmakers in this inspiring discussion on their award-winning films. These films dared to go into the heart of darkness and deal with the most painful wounds of Israeli society, with the aim of raising awareness and affecting real change. Despite their very different subject matters – the impact of privatization on the working conditions of contract workers in Israel (“White Gold-Black Labor”), widespread sexual assault in a Haredi community (“Conventional Sins”), and the ordeal of African refugees in the Sinai Desert (“Sound Of Torture”) – the filmmakers went through many challenges when trying to bring them, and their heroes and heroines, to light. 

We will hear from them about the ways to approach such complex and sensitive subjects, the main challenges they encountered when making their films, how they dealt with the obstacles and attempts to stand in their way, and their belief in the power of art to affect social change. The films and filmmakers: Tali Shemesh - “White Gold-Black Labor” (2004): The film exposed the terrible working conditions and the social disintegration that followed Israel’s privatization of the Dead Sea resources. This was one of the first attempts to focus on the terribly high price of privatization of our national resources, and what happened when employees were abandoned to the caprice of tycoons. In 2005, the film was among the five nominees for Best Documentary at the Ophir Awards. Anat Zuria and her daughter Shira Clara Winter - “Conventional Sins” (2017): The film centers on the story of Meir, one of many victims of sexual assault at the hands of a network of Haredi pedophiles in Bnei Brak in the early 2000s. With great sensitivity and multiple narrative tools, the film exposed a phenomenon that had been silenced for years. In 2017, the film won Best Documentary at The Jerusalem Film Festival. 

Director Keren Shayo and Producer Osnat Trabels - “Sound Of Torture” (2013) Thousands of Eritrean asylum-seekers flee their country’s dictatorship in an attempt to find a better life elsewhere; on their journey, they are kidnapped by Bedouins in the Egyptian Sinai Desert, kept for ransom and tortured. Through the film, the Israeli public was exposed to the people behind the term “infiltrators”, and the terrible realities they escape as they knock on our gates. In 2014, “Sound Of Torture” won Best Documentary at the Ophir Awards. Participants: Tali Shemesh, Anat Zuria, Shira Clara Winter, Keren Shayo and Osnat Trabelsi.

 Moderator: Professor Ronit Kark

 * Ticket buyers will be sent a direct link to the films. 

** The panel discussion will be accompanied by film clips. 

Curators: Shirly Berkovitz, Efrat Shalom Danon 

The event is held in partnership with the Israeli Documentary Filmmakers Forum and the National Library of Israel _________________________________________________________________