Waltz with Bashir

Screening: Monday 14 September 2009
To be introduced by Geoffrey Coppock

Israel/Germany/France 2008.
Director: Ari Folman.
Certificate: 18. 90 minutes.

Synopsis

This is an acclaimed first full-length feature film by Israeli documentary film-maker, Ari Folman. It has been described as “a kind of fictionalised docu-documentary” but, according to Folman, everything in the film is true. An old friend tells Folman of a recurring nightmare that he suffers and they conclude that it relates to their experiences in the Lebanon War in 1982. As a 19 year-old conscript, Folman was part of the Israeli Defence Forces that invaded Lebanon, but he has no recollection of that part of his life. Wondering what experiences he may have suppressed, Folman decides to meet and interview old friends, former comrades and psychoanalysts from around the world. Gradually his memory of the events of that time returns, and this film is a sort of documentary recording his progress and the unfolding memories that his quest evokes. The film is presented in the form of animation, albeit of a modern kind, a format that is being used increasingly used these days to tell difficult stories. The film has a dreamy, surreal aspect, which is entirely appropriate to record the unfolding dreams and memories in Folman’s mind and those of his former comrades in arms. Central to the film is the infamous massacre of Palestinian civilians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in September 1982, which Folman witnessed but had forgotten, and the film explores the issues of responsibility, guilt and trauma that such an event evokes.

Notes

The film proved controversial on its release in Israel in June 2008, though winning six awards from the Israeli Film Academy that year, and has still not been screened in some Arab countries. It was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film in 2009 and, among other accolades, won a Golden Globe (Foreign Language Film) in 2009 and National Society of Film Critics, USA, awards as both Best Film and Best Foreign Language Film, also in 2009.