Backwards

  • Israel
  • Short Documentary
  • 2018
  • 16 min.
  • Director(s): Dana Gelman
  • Producer(s): Efrat Cohen, Hilla Shitrit

Synopsis

At the outskirts of the Tel Aviv “bubble” a play is enacted nightly, with hundreds of work-seeking migrants and asylum seekers waiting to enter the Immigration Offices, their gateway to a better life. By midnight, hundreds of people have lined up, most of them Ukrainian. Most of them won’t get in anyway, and even the few that do will go through a procedure that doesn’t provide much chance of success.
Backwards encapsulates the refugee crisis into a single night: exhausted multitudes of people patiently persisting in their effort to begin a new life—as the rest of the
world sleeps.

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Credits

Director(s)

Dana Gelman

Producer(s)

Efrat Cohen, Hilla Shitrit

Script

Dana Gelman

Cinematography

Dana Gelman

Editor

Dana Gelman

Original Language

Russian, Hebrew, English

Subtitles

English

Production Company

Gaudemaus Productions

Produced with the help of:

Rabinovich Foundation , The Israel Film Council, Ministry of Culture and Sport; Channel 8 HOT; The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television

Sound designer

Tomer Avraham, Dana Gelman

Broadcaster

Channel 8, HOT

Festival Highlights

  • WINNER

    Special Jury Award for Student Documentary
    IDFA
    2018

Astra Film Festival, Romania, DocSchool Competition, 2019

International Human Rights Film Festival, Albania, 2019

Palm Springs International Film Festival, USA, 2019

IDFA, Netherlands, 2018

Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, Israel, 2018