Picture of the movie Ha'Berech (Ahed's Knee) © Les Films du Bal
Nadav Lapid questions his love for Israel in Ha’berech (Ahed’s Knee)
For his fourth feature film and his first selection in Competition, the Israeli filmmaker directs a director who is subject to censorship. Partly autobiographical, Ha'berech (Ahed's Knee) sees Nadav Lapid questioning his relationship with his country.
What inspired you to write Ahed's Knee?
In the spring of 2018, when I was invited to a screening of The Teacher in a village in the Israeli desert, I was contacted by an official from the Ministry of Culture who asked me to send back a signed form specifying the topics discussed after the screening. It didn't take a genius to realise that this was a form of censorship. The other reason for the film was the illness of my mother, who was also my editor. She died a month and a half after this episode. I wrote the script for Ahed's Knee in the aftermath, in two short weeks, as a kind of gesture of mourning.
It seems that with this film you have made a choice between your love for Israel and your questions about its political and geopolitical position…
I said to myself that this ambivalence had to end. And in a way, I chose hate. The story is very brutal, very full on. This state of mind penetrated the film, the setting, the images and the direction of the actors. For me, grief and personal feelings are always associated with collective feelings. Mourning for my mother was also mourning for my country.
How did the contemporary dance choreographer Avshalom Pollak, who plays Y., the hero of the film, influence his character?
We looked for someone who could bring a creative side to the role, with a mixture of sadness and violence. Everything Avshalom has been through is written on his face. When we were discussing his role, I realised that I was telling him who he is. He brought a vulnerability to this arrogant character. He plays a kind of superhero who can fall apart. at any second.
