Five Hours from Paris
| Five Hours from Paris | |
|---|---|
Leonid Prudovsky | |
| Written by | Erez Kav-El Leonid Prudovsky |
| Produced by | Leon Edery Moshe Edery Haim Mecklberg Estee Yacov-Mecklberg |
| Starring | Vladimir Friedman Dror Keren Dorit Lev-Ari Helena Yaralova |
| Cinematography | Giora Bejach |
| Edited by | Evgeny Ruman |
| Music by | Gavriel Ben-Podah |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | Israel |
| Language | Hebrew |
Five Hours from Paris (
Plot
Yigal is a taxi driver with a burning desire to visit Paris, yet his fear of flying stands in the way of him booking a 5-hour flight from Tel Aviv. He then forms a deep emotional bond with a married Russian immigrant, Lina, who plans to immigrate to Canada.[2]
Cast
- Vladimir Friedman as Grisha
- Dror Keren as Yigal
- Dorit Lev-Ari
- Helena Yaralova as Lina
Utopia boycott
Utopia, the French chain of art cinemas caused a wave of controversy when it announced it was removing the Israeli film from scheduling in light of Israel's involvement in the
French newspapers condemned the banning, with Le Monde stating it represented censorship and that it was a sign of a dangerous trend. The newspaper continued “It is counterproductive. It helps to weaken Israeli voices and eyes who are the most uncompromising about their government. If there is one country in which artists explore with talent and lucidity their state, their society, their leaders and their politics, it is Israel.”[1] Ronit Elkabetz, a veteran actress in French and Israeli cinema also condemned the ban during an interview with the French media.[3]
The ban also led to Israeli-Dutch filmmaker, Ludi Boeken withdrawing his film Saviors in the Night from Utopia's cinemas. Boeken made the move “in solidarity with the censored.”[1]
The French culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand also condemned the ban, expressing in a letter to Faucon “my incomprehension and my disapproval”.[1]
Utopia's organisers replaced Five Hours from Paris with a documentary Rachel about Rachel Corrie, an American protester killed during a protest in Gaza in 2004. The film was made by Simone Bitton, a Moroccan-born French-Israeli doctor and self-described pacifist who served with the Israel Defense Forces as part of the nation's conscription programme.[1]
The public pressure and Boeke's withdrawal subsequently led Utopia to change their decision. The company revealed "We are certainly ready to include the film in our next screening schedule, as the original message we sought to get across via the cancelation has [been achieved],".[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f French Protest of Israeli Raid Reaches Wide Audience New York Times. 12 June 2010
- ^ Five Hours from Paris Film.com. Retrieved on 20 June 2010
- ^ L’actrice israélienne Ronit Elkabetz défend "A cinq heures de Paris" France Info. 19 June 2010. French
- ^ French cinema chain lifts ban on Israeli film after counter-protest from producer Haaretz. 10 June 2010
External links
- Five Hours from Paris at IMDb
