Competition

NO. 17
HAHARUG HA-17



Country of production: Israel
Year: 2003
Language: Hebrew
Mins: 76

Director: David Ofek
Script: David Ofek, Ron Rotem Cinematography: Ron Rotem
Music: Ophir Leibovitch
Editing: Arik Lahav-Leibovitz
Sound: Koby Aizenman
Producer: Edna and Elinor Kowarsky
Production company: Eden Productions
Source: Philipa Kowarsky
Cinephil
Levontin 18
Tel Aviv 65112, ISRAEL
Phone: +972 3 5664129
Fax: +972 3 5601436
info@cinephil.co.il
www.cinephil.co.il

Seventeen people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a bus just outside of Tel Aviv. One person, mangled beyond recognition, remained unidentified. Working much like Crime Scene Investigators ("CSI"), a group of filmmakers try to uncover the identity of "Number 17." Nobody seems to miss this man. Through interviews with policemen, survivors, and witnesses, and through research and logic, a group of filmmakers gather more and more information. Through this almost brutally straightforward, fact-finding mission, we see a compelling cross-section of everyday Israelis and the horror that suicide attacks like this inflict on their lives. We get to know the piano teacher from Minsk, and the undertaker who was injured in the Yom Kippur War - as well as the brilliant sketch artist who employs unorthodox yet extremely productive methods.

Co-directors David Ofek and Ron Rotem - one of the distinguished elder statesmen of the Israeli documentary film world - eventually even make the rounds of talk shows to achieve their goal: to give Number 17 a face, an identity, a life, and as peaceful an afterlife as they possibly can.

David Ofek lives in Tel Aviv. He is a 1993 graduate of the Jerusalem film school. He has won awards from the Mar del Plata film festival (Argentina), Doc Aviv (Israel), Edinburgh (Scotland), San Francisco (USA), and beyond. NO. 17 won the 2003 Israeli Academy Award for best documentary.

filmography as director
NO. 17 (2003)
THE BARBEQUERS (2002)
TAKE-AWAY (2000)
5 LOVE STORIES (1999)
SPANISH ORCHARD IN AMERICA (1999)
POINT OF VIEW (1998)
BAT-YAM NEW YORK (1998)
HOME (1994)
STRANGER IN TOWN (1993)
HI-TEQ DREAMS (1992)
LUKA: TOLD BY FRIENDS (1991)


Producers Edna and Elinor Kowarsky in person!

We are grateful to the people at the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest for their generous support of our screening.

Thursday 08-Apr-2004 7:00 PM Facets Cinematheque

Sunday 18-Apr-2004 8:30 PM Gallery Theatre screening with INSIDE THE MIND OF THE SUICIDE BOMBER