Kedma (2002)

In May 1948, shortly before the creation of the State of Israel, hundreds of immigrants from across Europe arrive in Palestine--only to risk arrest by British troops.

Director:

Amos Gitai

Writers:

Amos Gitai, Mordechai Goldhecht,

Stars:

Andrei Kashkar, Helena Yaralova, Yussuf Abu-Warda

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andrei Kashkar	...	Yanush
Helena Yaralova	...	Rossa
Yussuf Abu-Warda	...	The Arab Man
Moni Moshonov	...	Klibanov
Juliano Mer-Khamis	...	Moussa (as Juliano Mer)
Menachem Lang	...	Menachem
Sendi Bar	...	Yardena
Tomer Russo	...	Milek
Liron Levo	...	Gideon
Roman Hazanowski	...	Roman
Dalia Shachaf	...	Dalia
Keren Ben Rafael	...	Isha (as Karen Ben Raphael)
Sasha Chernichovsky	...	Sacha
Rawda Suleiman	...	Jaffra
Gal Altschuler	...	Ygal

Storyline

Set seven days before the creation of the state of Israel in May 1948, a small rusted ship, with a group of concentration camp survivors from Shoah, is received at the new territory with open hostility. They are met by British troops, who are shooting at them, and are trying to forbid them from disembarking. As well, the survivors are met with guns blasts being shot by the Jewish secret army, who has come to help them. Only a small group actually succeeds in landing on the small beach, where they are able to experience their first hours in Palestine. Tired and hungry, the hopeful emigrants have then to follow the Jewish forces to immediately take up arms against the Arabs. Unspoken truths from both sides explode in the violent and tragic conflict.

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Plot Keywords:

israel | immigrant | 1940s | immigration | based on novel

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

Italy Israel France

Language:

Hebrew Arabic German Polish Russian Yiddish

Release Date:

22 May 2002 (France)

Also Known As:

Kedma verso Oriente

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,722 (USA) (7 February 2003)

Gross:

$8,963 (USA) (21 February 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Agav Hafakot, BIM, MK2 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Yanush: We don't have history, this is the fact. I don't know how to say this in Hebrew. But this is what it is. Our history is the way it is because of the Christians. We didn't want it be like this. We don't want it this way ever. They forced this on us,and we can't help it. Because of this, I am telling you, I'm against this. But I didn't say anything. She didn't exist because of me. You may find it hard to imagine that I am so intensely against this. I'm really disgusted. Think about it, what have ...

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Connections

Featured in Independence: Around the Film 'Kedma', a Film by Amos Gitai (2002)

User Reviews

One of the Worst Movies in History

The story of the founding of the State of Israel is one of war, suffering, refugees, political intrigues, miracles and whatnot. Taking any of the above attributes and making a movie that focuses on it cannot leave you with a bad movie. Even a completely talentless director could make an entertaining film out of the Israeli independence story. But somehow Amos Gitai managed to make even this important and exciting episode of modern history into an amateurish and boring series of scenes, which is hard to actually call a film.

The movie can be summed up fairly simply: Have you read Antigone, or another similar ancient Greek tragedy? Well, imagine an ancient Greek performance of Antigone filmed with a $200 camera, without any cinematographic additions. The scenes are not linked in almost any way, the dialog seems uninspired, as if read from a piece of paper, and the 'message' of the film is told by a raving side character.

The acting is terrible, the choice of cast mediocre at best, and while the film makes use of several languages, even someone who understands them will have trouble watching the movie without subtitles, because most of the actors themselves don't pronounce anything correctly.

In short, a horrible movie from a horrible director. Not recommended to anyone.