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Kippur

Directed by: Amos Gitai
110 Minutes, 2000, Drama; War

Based on director Amos Gitai’s own experiences as a member of a helicopter rescue crew during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this story is told from the perspective of Israeli soldiers. We are led by Weinraub and his friend Ruso on a day that begins with quiet city streets, but ends with death, destruction and devastation of both body and mind. Various scenes are awash in the surreal, as Weinraub’s head hangs out over a rescue helicopter’s open door, watching with tranquil desperation as the earth passes beneath, the overpowering whir of the blades creating a hypnotic state. It is not a traditional blood, guts and glory film. There are no battle scenes or glorious deaths; only the rescue crew trying to pick up the pieces.

Credits

Director: Amos Gitai

Producer: Amos Gitai

Producer: Michael Propper

Producer: Laurent Truchot

Cast: Juliano Mer

Cast: Liron Levo

Cast: Tomer Ruso

Cast: Uri Ran Klauzner

Written by: Amos Gitai

Written by: Marie-Jose Sanselme

Distributor: Kino Lorber

Awards

"A classic war film, at once elegiac and immediate, that takes you smack into the chaos of combat yet is marked by a detached perspective." -

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

"As bloody or breathtaking or heroic as these gussied-up Hollywood depictions of armed human conflict might try to be, none of them capture the true hellacious chaos of war like Israeli director Amos Gitai's Kippur." -

Steve Tilley, Jam! Movies

*Won - Israeli Academy Awards - Best Sound*Nominated - Israeli Academy Awards - Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Film*Won - Cannes Film Festival - François Chalais Award*Nominated - Cannes Film Festival - Palme d'Or*Nominated - Political Film Society - PFS AwardÂ