FEATURE FILM
Free Zone
Rebecca, an American who has been living in Jerusalem for a few months now, has just broken off her engagement. She gets into a cab driven by Hanna, an Israeli. But Hanna is on her way to Jordan, to the Free Zone, to pick up a large sum of money.
PRESS
The film is as simple as it is effective... Women are both central and powerless here, victims yet perpetrators. They are as conflicted as the region itself, carrying the pain and complexities of life in the Middle East within them. But they also carry a willingness to go beyond these struggles, to find some kind of common ground, and this is the space rendered in Free Zone. Gitai‘s camera is as marvelous as usual, a silent observer of people and landscapes, and his actors are exemplary – immediate and present – crafting characters defined pointedly against each other and the territory that delineates and traps them.
Piers Handling, Toronto International Film Festival 2005
FESTIVALS
• Festival de Cannes 2005 – Official selection, in competition. Hanna Laslo, Best Actress Award
• Toronto International Film Festival 2005 – “Masters” Section
• Valladolid: Semana Internacional de Cine 2005
CREDITS
Screenplay Amos Gitai, Marie-José Sanselme
Cinematography Laurent Brunet
Sound Michel Kharat, Alex Claude, Stéphane Thiébaut
Music Hava Alberstein
Editing Isabelle Ingold, Yann Dedet
Production design Miguel Markin
Costumes Aline Stern, Natali Kanevtsky
Casting Ilan Moscovitch
Cast Natalie Portman, Hanna Laslo, Hiam Abbass, Carmen Maura, Makram Khoury, Aki Avni, Uri Ran Klauzner, Liron Levo, Tomer Russo, Adnan Tarabshi, Shredy Gabarin
Production Agav Films, Agat Films & Cie (France)
Coproduction Golem Productions (Spain), Artémis (Belgium)
In association with Bac Films International, Arte Cinema, Intereup, CNC, Canal + (France), Agav Hafakot, United King Films, Hammon Hafakot, Israel Eser Channel, Yes Satellite, Israeli Film Fund (Israel), Cineart-Scope Invest, The Tax Shelter of the Federal Government of Belgium, RTBF (Belgium), The Jordan Royal Film Commission (Jordan)
Producers Nicolas Blanc, Michael Tapuach, Laurent Truchot, Amos Gitai
Line producer Gadi Levy
Rebecca, an American who has been living in Jerusalem for a few months now, has just broken off her engagement. She gets into a cab driven by Hanna, an Israeli. But Hanna is on her way to Jordan, to the Free Zone, to pick up a large sum of money.
PRESS
The film is as simple as it is effective... Women are both central and powerless here, victims yet perpetrators. They are as conflicted as the region itself, carrying the pain and complexities of life in the Middle East within them. But they also carry a willingness to go beyond these struggles, to find some kind of common ground, and this is the space rendered in Free Zone. Gitai‘s camera is as marvelous as usual, a silent observer of people and landscapes, and his actors are exemplary – immediate and present – crafting characters defined pointedly against each other and the territory that delineates and traps them.
Piers Handling, Toronto International Film Festival 2005
FESTIVALS
• Festival de Cannes 2005 – Official selection, in competition. Hanna Laslo, Best Actress Award
• Toronto International Film Festival 2005 – “Masters” Section
• Valladolid: Semana Internacional de Cine 2005
CREDITS
Screenplay Amos Gitai, Marie-José Sanselme
Cinematography Laurent Brunet
Sound Michel Kharat, Alex Claude, Stéphane Thiébaut
Music Hava Alberstein
Editing Isabelle Ingold, Yann Dedet
Production design Miguel Markin
Costumes Aline Stern, Natali Kanevtsky
Casting Ilan Moscovitch
Cast Natalie Portman, Hanna Laslo, Hiam Abbass, Carmen Maura, Makram Khoury, Aki Avni, Uri Ran Klauzner, Liron Levo, Tomer Russo, Adnan Tarabshi, Shredy Gabarin
Production Agav Films, Agat Films & Cie (France)
Coproduction Golem Productions (Spain), Artémis (Belgium)
In association with Bac Films International, Arte Cinema, Intereup, CNC, Canal + (France), Agav Hafakot, United King Films, Hammon Hafakot, Israel Eser Channel, Yes Satellite, Israeli Film Fund (Israel), Cineart-Scope Invest, The Tax Shelter of the Federal Government of Belgium, RTBF (Belgium), The Jordan Royal Film Commission (Jordan)
Producers Nicolas Blanc, Michael Tapuach, Laurent Truchot, Amos Gitai
Line producer Gadi Levy
SALES / DISTRIBUTION
BAC FILMS
88, rue de la Folie Méricourt. 75011 Paris – France
+33 (0)1 53 53 52 52
s.moreau@bacfilms.fr
AGAV FILMS
6, cour Berard. 75004 Paris – France
+33 (0)1 42 40 48 45
agav@amosgitai.com
SALES / DISTRIBUTION
BAC FILMS
88, rue de la Folie Méricourt. 75011 Paris
France
+33 (0)1 53 53 52 52
AGAV FILMS
6, cour Berard. 75004 Paris
France
+33 (0)1 42 40 48 45
