Unlike her co-star in the English Patient, Ralph Fiennes, and Leo DiCaprio who both came to Israel taking a break from work, academy award winner for best supporting actress in the English Patient, Juliette Binoche is in Israel for 10 days to continue the shooting of “Disengagement” with Israel’s most well known director abroad, Amos Gitai.

The film called “Disengagement” (to be released in 2008) is an Israel-French-Italian co production in which the French actress will be portraying a French woman who sets out on a journey to find her estranged daughter who was raised on a kibbutz. The story’s backdrop is set against the disengagement from Gaza and the riots in France.

Although Amos Gitai is known for political messages he conveys through his work, Bincohe told YNET that this is more of a humane story that focuses on pain that on a political movie. “I fell in love with the script from the moment I saw it because of the strong characters and the excellent story. A meeting between a brother and a sister after years of separation, with a secret hiding in the background. It’s a type of mythology, a fairy tale, intense and contemporary. The subject is very loaded; it’s a story about an emotional voyage full of revelations.”

As to the question whether we have distanced ourselves enough from the great breaking point of the disengagement in order to observe it on the big screen, Gitai says: “These are the raw materials of this place. It’s not a place with refined art and paintings by Velasquez. The films I make place humane characters in loaded contexts.”

Binoche, who has often said she is interested in movies that make a statement, relates to what Gitai says. “I like the way in which he brings principle issues to the surface in his movies,” Binoche says and mentions the example of the documentary trilogy “Wadi,” which traced the background of the residents of the Roshmiah Wadi in Haifa. “I had no intention of leaving this role to another actress,” she added.

No doubt this could prove to be one of his best collaborations yet. Also Gitai has initiated the development of a new center in the Negev which will serve as the meeting point for artists from Europe and the Middle East. The idea has been embraced by Shimon Peres, who as we know is Mr. Negev. Some of the artists who are also fond of the idea include Jan Moro, Juliette Binoche and Bernardo Bertolucci.

Sounds cool. The Israeli movie industry has been gaining a lot of traction in the last ten years and this should serve to create more growth.

Here’s the YNET article.

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