Footnote, a comedy in Competition

The new wave of Israeli cinema has made it into the Competition with Footnote (Hearat Shulayim), Joseph Cedar’s fourth film. A comedy wins the director his first selection for the Festival de Cannes.

The Talmud is the collection of texts that contain the Hebrew oral tradition. Generations of the Shkolnik family have studied it at Jerusalem University. But for Eliezer and his son, Uriel, it proves to be a source of conflict.  While the younger Shkolnik is lauded by his peers, his father, a purist, aloof professor, watches his son’s success with envy. Their rivalry leads to several humorous scenes: “They get the audience smiling and laughing, it’s not all to be taken seriously.”

The film may be a comedy, but it has another side too. Footnote delves deep into the heart of Hebrew culture. The story is set in the Talmud Department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The department is small but famous, and is the setting for numerous rivalries between researchers. “Although it was esoteric material, I fell in love with these people and they became the centre of my film.”

Like many New Wave Israeli films, Footnote deals with religion. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict tends to be relegated to a mere backdrop. These directors are interested in the everyday life of Israeli people.

T.K.

Footnote is being screened at 12 pm and 9.45 pm at the Grand Théâtre Lumière