Israeli director Gal Genossar at Film Festival before returning to army – The Hollywood Reporter

Rebecca Guber and Mayaan Levy (left) with Nitzan Mintz, Dede Bandaid and “The Monopol” director Gal Genossar (center right) after a Chelsea Film Festival panel.

Chelsea Film Festival

Israeli director Gal Genossar is expected to celebrate the world premiere of his short film, Monopoly, at the Chelsea Film Festival in New York on Sunday, along with his screenwriter Natty Brooks.

However, after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Genossar found himself representing his country alone at the festival (which also featured a handful of other works by Israeli directors). He was torn about whether to attend the premiere, given the worsening situation in the Middle East, but, after consulting with the Israeli consulate in New York, decided to stay and speak about the attacks to the opening night crowd at the festival and to others. and to film protests in the city.

“It’s difficult, especially since it’s our world premiere. We really wanted to be here all together and represent the film, but I think we have a bigger role than the film as we are advocates for the situation in Israel. I think right now it’s bigger than the movie itself,” Genossar said.

When he returns home in a few days, Genossar, who is an Israeli reservist, will join the military response against Hamas.

“If my film hadn’t opened on Sunday, I would have done it before now,” he said.

The director, who is based near Tel Aviv, was able to make it to the film festival because he had an early flight on October 7, which meant he was at the airport during the first strike in Israel. Thinking the attack was not unusual, and in consultation with his wife, Genossar continued on to New York. He landed and realized the depth of the situation and also received a list of names of missing friends, who he says have now been declared dead. He later discovered that his friend, director Yahav Winner, had also been killed.

His screenwriter was sidelined by a canceled flight, as well as the need to meet his family obligations. Genossar says his family is safe amid the conflict.

While he was constantly online at first, Genossar said the updates and news cycle made him feel “crazy.” However, she feels she was able to make a difference by talking to people in New York about Israel and the attacks. And he said that his art may, unfortunately, have found a new relevance.

The 19-minute historical drama film, based on Brooks’ family history, is about the deportation of Jewish families to Macedonia in 1943. A pharmacist is offered a reprieve from being sent to concentration camps and must decide, along with his wife, either try to save others or leave immediately.

In making the film, Genossar said he hopes to show the world that these situations must not happen again. And after shooting the film in the country of Georgia, with a cast of Georgian actors and refugees from Ukraine, he found meaning in bringing different cultures together around this theme. But, now he said the idea of ​​”never again” has “failed”.

“People should see it, even though it’s an 80-year-old story. I think it’s relevant, unfortunately relevant,” he said.

Before the trip, Genossar was working on another short documentary about PTSD. But he said the attacks have left him wondering: “How can I go back to making art and visual art with the situation that’s going on right now?”

It’s a question faced by other Israeli artists, including Nitzan Mintz and her partner, who goes by the name Dede Bandaid, who spoke with Genossar as part of a film festival panel on Sunday. The two street artists, currently in New York for an artist residency, began a guerrilla campaign by making ‘Kidnapped’ posters featuring Israelis taken hostage by Hamas after initially feeling helpless from afar.

In the beginning, Mintz and Bandaid mapped the city of Manhattan with the posters, which are created with the permission of the families themselves. But then the two created an online Dropbox with the posters, and the effort went viral and was embraced by celebrities and cities around the world.

“What we’re doing now, we can make a real impact and change, because really the only thing that’s driving us these days is getting these people back home,” Dede said.

Right now, activism and action take precedence over making art. And Mintz said she couldn’t yet think of a future in which their art could help Israelis in the healing process.

“I would leave the artistic community aside. I would just help people now,” Mintz said, when asked how to support artists.

While Genossar is still figuring out his next steps as a filmmaker, he said he believes artists and culture will be essential in Israel to help pave the way forward.

“I think right now I’ll just have to go back to Israel to figure out what my next role is going to be in this situation,” he said. “And honestly, it feels right to go back to doing what I was doing before. I think Israel is going to change dramatically one way or another.”