Shlomi Elkabetz Called in For His ‘Testimony’

Shlomi Elkabetz, brother of Ronit Elkabetz (The Band’s Visit, Late Marriage), and co-director (alongside his sister) on To Take a Wife (2004) and the 2007 smash hit Seven Days, is currently working on a project of his own. Entitled Testimony (see pic taken from the set above), this promises to be a political bomb, and an intriguing and unconventional film in its structure.

More than six years ago, actor Ofer Ein-Gal came across a thick folder containing dozens of testimonies describing events in the West Bank from both Palestinian and Israeli soldiers. With the support his former life partner, Elkabetz (both are openly gay), Ein-gal turned this into script form. People who live in big city of Tel Aviv know what happens in the territories, but refuse to face the music sort of speak. Many films were made on the subject, so as to get under the viewer’s skin, the two decided on a unique concept: they would use actors, who would read the testimonies on camera, in a series of monologues. Other scenes will be dramatizations of the testimonies. This was also dictated by the low budget, and the troubles of acquiring finance for the shoot.

The CNC (French Centre National du Cinema) came on board in the early stages, but it was hard to convince Israeli funds and broadcasters to support the project, because of the difficult material, and because of the unattractive (commercially) cinematic perception. Little by little money came, bringing up the total budget to a 100,000 US$, enabling a 9 day shoot. Famous actors, as well as fresh out of acting school actors, gave their talent to the film. Keren Mor, Albert Ilouz (both of them were in Seven Days), and of course the sister Ronit participated in the project, making it an unconventional, yet intriguing film to look out for. Wild Bunch were selling the project at the EFM.

In an interview to Ynet, Elkabetz was quoted as saying, “we know that our project is not aimed at the multiplexes. It is a film that we hope will find a kind heart at the art house venues, or in the local cinematheques. It is an enigmatic and experimental project, with a deep and moving narrative, and with a political moral campus, that hopefully will make people think.“