Promised Land (2004/II)

Director:

Amos Gitai

Writers:

Amos Gitai (writer)
Marie-Jose Sanselme (writer)

Release Date:

21 October 2004 (Israel)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

"Promised Land" tells the story of a group of young unwitting Estonian girls smuggled through Egypt to be auctioned off as prostitutes in Israel...

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Rosamund Pike	...	Rose
Diana Bespechni	...	Diana
Hanna Schygulla	...	Hanna
Anne Parillaud	...	Anne
Alla An	...	Alla
Kristina Likhnyski	...	Kristina
Katya Drabkin	...	Katya
Yussuf Abu-Warda	...	Yussuf
Amos Lavi	...	Hezi
Shalva Ben-Moshe	...	Igor
Craig Bachins	...	Greg
Meital Peretz	...	Meital
Menachem Lang	...	Menahem
Ran Kauchinsky	...	Rani
Peeter Polluveer	...	Peeter
Yelena Maunchenko	...	Yelena
Sacha Zov	...	Sacha
Kadri Kõusaar
Ingrid Bakho
Olga Shapira
Elena Kurkchi
Maria Sokolov
Ella Vilk
Tanya Sveshko
Vick Shapir
Lilach Bitan
Yulia Sharkanovich
Marina Pinchsov
Marta Morbayov

Directed by
Amos Gitai

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Amos Gitai		writer
Marie-Jose Sanselme		writer

Produced by
Amos Gitai	....	producer
Alain Mamou-Mani	....	co-producer
Michel Propper	....	producer
Michael Tapuah	....	producer (as Michael Tapuach)
Jeremy Thomas	....	executive producer
Laurent Truchot	....	producer
Peter Watson	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Simon Stockhausen

Cinematography by
Caroline Champetier

Film Editing by
Yann Dedet
Isabelle Ingold

Casting by
Ilan Moscovitch

Production Design by
Miguel Markin
Eli Zion

Costume Design by
Laura Dinolesko		(as Laura Dinulescu)

Production Management
Alon Elias	....	production manager

Art Department
Ilan Moscovitch	....	artistic advisor

Sound Department
Nicolas Becker	....	foley artist
Alex Claude	....	sound designer
Alex Claude	....	sound
Alex Epstine	....	boom operator
Séverin Favriau	....	assistant sound editor
Oleg Kaiserman	....	sound recordist
Daniel Ollivier	....	sound
John Purcell	....	dialogue editor
John Purcell	....	sound editor
Stéphane Thiébaut	....	sound mixer
Stéphane Thiébaut	....	sound re-recording mixer
Stéphane Thiébaut	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Ofer Almog	....	grip
Adi Borkin	....	best boy
Adi Borkin	....	electrician
Berdougo Michael	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Doron Suliman	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Richard Mansell	....	business affairs: Recorded Picture Company

Production Companies

• Agav Hafakot
• Agav Productions
• HanWay Films
• MP Productions

Distributors

• Ad Vitam Distribution (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• HanWay Films (2004) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Lady Film (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Aretz Hamuvtachat, Ha- (Israel: Hebrew title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Israel | France | UK

Language:

Arabic | Hebrew | Russian | English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Agav Hafakot

Trivia:

Director Amos Gitai said in an interview that he convinced the cast and crew to literally camp out in the desert where the opening sequences were shot. This began because he was tired of the long daily commute from the location to Tel Aviv, but he believes that the fact that most of them agreed to join him, living in tents without running water for days, added to the gritty realism of these scenes, because the actresses were just as unwashed and uncomfortable as their characters.

No promise no land. Just a quick succession of cruel scenes.

This film is a major disappointment by Amos Gitai.One should even call it a blot on his career.Promised land is neither a feature film nor a documentary nor anything which can lie in between.It features two popular stars Anne Parillaud and Hanna Schygulla but even their presence is not helpful enough to sustain viewers' interest.The film is about the plight of some Russian girls which are sold in Israel but its presentation is really bad. It does not make any sense as in order to heighten the importance of the topic Amos Gitai has decided to shoot the most part of the film in darkness. However darkness cannot hide the film's defects.The film maker has surely not done his homework well due to which viewers are forced to watch a crude succession of abominably cruel scenes in which women are traded like cattle.Most of the actors too suffer in this film as their roles have not been defined properly.Recommendation:better watch this film and be bitter about it rather than being sullen without having seen it.