DAVID LYNCH IN ISRAEL - THE FILM

DAVID LYNCH - THE FILM
DIRECTED BY DORON DJERASSI (Directors Program)


DAVID LYNCH in ISRAEL 15-19 OCTOBER 2007

 

David Lynch has visited Israel in October 2007 as a guest of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, Jerusalem and the Cinematheques of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. The School’s main idea behind planning this first visit of Mr. Lynch was to focus on introducing such a film master to as much as possible young and curious film students from all over Israel.

 

During his visit we have managed to share his public performances and his thought about cinema with thousands of film students that came from 12 film schools around the country. Naturally a meeting of with such a great filmmaker as David Lynch can inspire a teenage film student in an unforgettable way.

In addition David Lynch has also met top figures from the political world (as President Simon Peres) and had meetings with the cultural and financial elite of Israel.

 

David Lynch held special conferences in the Cinematheques of Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv, where he met thousands film students from all over Israel. Some students from film departments in high schools (ages 16-18) and the others from film schools (ages 21-40).

In addition to those conferences Lynch met with thousands of film enthusiastic and the Cinematheques subscribers at normal screening (as the 3 Cinematheques conducted a special retrospective of Lynch’s film during the month of October).

Under the title of “Filmmaking, Creativity and Mediation” Lynch has attracted a vast audiences to all those public events/lecture that were conducted in a Q&A format. The events were planned and designed with Lynchian elements: from the special lightings of the film-houses to the stage decor and the music that accompanied the conferences.

The crowd had over flowed David Lynch with various questions covering his works in the cinema world and beyond. Lynch with patience and respect had found the time to answer each and every question. In addition to the youngsters David Lynch had also met, in a special organized event, hundreds of film professionals from the three main unions (directors, screenwriters and producers guilds).

 

David Lynch gave a special Master Class to a selected group of teachers and graduates of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School. The master class was conducted in the same Q&A format but with a very intimate atmosphere, which with no doubt, added to the success of the event. During the event Lynch received an honorary fellowship from the Sam Spiegel School.

 

The Sam Spiegel Film and Television School with the cooperation of the 3 major Israeli Cinematheques have issued a 36 pages quality chrome color publication where Israeli finest writers, artists and film scholars have written tribute essays to Lynch’s varied work. The magazine was given for free (6,000 copies) to all events’ participants.

In addition to the magazine - the school has printed large format posters, a special edition of stamps marking David Lynch visit and a special series of red wine also marking his visit to Israel.

 

The visit started with a large press conference taking place in the school and hosting more than 50 journalists from Israel and abroad (among them: AP, Financial Times, Reuters, The Wall St Journal, Deutsche Welle and many others)

During his stay Lynch had had more then 5 personal interviews to leading media sources with an impressive coverage. The public conferences received numerous appearances in printed, electronic and broadcasted media.

 

The closing event of this grand tour was a gala evening that was organized with the cooperation of Israel’s leading bank. The event opened with a unique performance of a special ensemble, lead by Israel’s top young musician, playing several of Lynch’s scores, which was then followed with an interesting dialogue with the audience. Also this event was reported in the Israeli press in numerous occasions.