COUNTING THE STARS
Brazil & Israel 2014
Three Channel HD Video with Sound
Duration 55 min 43 sec
169 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo.
Portugueese and English with English and Portuguese subtitles
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Soundtrack design and music: Shalom Weinstein
Support: Israel Lottery Council for Culture & Arts, The Israeli Center For Digital Art Holon,
The Rabinovitch Foundation for the Arts - Cinema Project, Ostrovsky familiy Fund, Centro de Cultura Judaica São Paulo.
Excerpt
This is a 3-screens-video shedding light on the contemporary phenomena of rediscovery and return to Judaism by descendants of the Anussim in Brazil, 500 years after their forefathers were forced to convert to Christianity during the Inquisition in Spain.
Most of these Anussim are facing rejection by the communities they live in, the Jews of Brazil, the State of Israel, the rabbinic establishment and sometimes even by their own families. Nevertheless, they choose to remain faithful to their way of life.
At my first visit to Brazil in 2011, I heard about the Anussim in Brazil. The subject fascinated me and made me start my journey wishing to understand their story.
The video consists of my conversations with these people, as well as with historians, anthropologists, a psychoanalyst and two rabbis, who contribute their professional point of view on the subject.
My personal “Brazil experience” appears in images I collected during my filming journey. The markets, the sea, Evangelist preachers, passersby’s portraits in the heart of downtown São Paulo, a collection of colors and sounds.
The Sun Glows Over The Mountains
Israel 2012
One Channel HDV Video with Sound
Duration 53 min and 10 sec
16:9 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo
Hebrew with English subtitles
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Written by: Nurit Sharett & Shalom Weinstein
Soundtrack & Music: Shalom Weinstein
Support: The Rabinovitch Foundation for the Arts - Cinema Project, The Israeli Center For Digital Art Holon, Ostrovsky Family Fund, The Center for Contemporary Art Tel Aviv
Excerpt
A wistful film on love of homeland.
Video artist Nurit Sharett recounts her childhood memories and converses with her Palestine-born parents, who grew up in the British Mandate years. They both took part in realizing the Zionist dream of establishing the State of Israel, a dream now shattered before their eyes.
Nurit, a granddaughter of Moshe Sharett, retells the story of the aliya of her great-grandfather in 1882, and reviews the political philosophy of her grandfather, who spent two years of his childhood in an Arab village north of Ramallah, and who as an Israeli leader championing peace was ousted from his position as foreign minister due to his opposition to the initiation of the 1956 Sinai War.
TEL AVIV 01:53—01:57
Israel 2013
One Channel HDV Video with Sound
Duration 4 min
16:9 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo.
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Soundtrack: Shalom Weinstein
Excerpt
During the day the fountain is just a spot surrounded by heavy traffic and busy passersby. At night it is a tender place which evokes the sensation that time has changed its dimension. The water is pouring out of the fountain in an endless stream and the water lilies are nodding softly as with an inner dance. A state of mind between dream and reality. Until all of a sudden the stream is fading out and the water stops. A surprising moment which breaks the meditative movements and reflections and captures a rare silent moment in town.
MOON ON MOUNT GERIZIM
Israel 2009
Three Channel DV Video with Sound
Duration 21 min and 47 sec
4:3 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo.
Hebrew with English and Arabic subtitles
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Soundtrack Design: Shalom Weinstein
Support: The Israeli Center For Digital Art Holon
Excerpt
A vague childhood memory of a colorfull ceiling in a house in Holon turned into a two years journey with the Samaritans. This small community lives in two separated neighbourhoods: One in Holon, Israel and the other on Mount Gerizim in the West Bank, near Nablus. At first I was attracted to the unique tradition which was kept over thousands of years. Accompanying the praying procession in the middle of the night to the top of the mountain made me feel that I was brought back in time and filled me with excitement. But the longer I spent with the community members filming the rituals and interviewing them, my fascination from „the other“ withdrew. My point of view as a secular woman was contradicting the patriarchy, religious and conservative society.
H2
Palestine and Israel 2010
One Channel DV Video with Sound
Duration 21 min and 47 sec
16:9 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo.
Hebrew with English and Arabic subtitles
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Soundtrack: Shalom Weinstein
Excerpt
In 2010 Nurit Sharett regularly visited the city of Hebron, where she taught video art to a group of young Palestinian women. Over time the artist established firm relationships with three of her students and their families. The video documents everyday life in that microcosm dissimilar to any other city. Subsequently to the Hebron Agreement signed in 1997, the IDF withdrew from about 80 percent of Hebron and the city was split into two sectors: H1, governed by the Palestinian authority, and H2, an Israeli-governed enclave with Israeli soldiers and Jewish residents, as well as Palestinian residents. The traffic between the two sectors of the city is constant. Walking is a part of the Palestinian residents' routine, while driving a vehicle in H2 is permitted only to Jews and foreigners. The right of driving, among other privileges the Jewish residents are granted, distinguishes the character of the pedestrian city. In the video Sharett shows the families and homes she visits, a wedding she was invited to and of course the outside views: the landscape, soldiers, the wire and walls. In "H2" Sharett tells us her story of Hebron.
ILANA, TAMI, SHARON & ME
Israel 2009
One Channel DV Video with Sound
Duration 2 min and 45 sec
4:3 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo.
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Soundtrack design: Shalom Weinstein
Excerpt
A one shot video of four women with grey hair and dressed in black standing firmly facing the camera, as if in an act of defiance.
BACKYARD
Israel 2007
One Channel DV Video with Sound
Duration 13 min and 18 sec
4:3 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo.
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Soundtrack: Shalom Weinstein
Excerpt
BACKYARD is a one shot video, a "moving image". A path in a public park, located in the outskirts of the city has its own set of rules. The viewer’s expectation for action is replaced by observation.
HAIFA, HUMMUS & AUNT HAVA
Israel 2006
One Channel DV Video with Sound
Duration 8 min and 42 sec
Hebrew with English subtitles
4:3 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo.
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Soundtrack design and music: Shalom Weinstein
Excerpt
"I traveled to Haifa a few times with the camera, with the aim of really discovering the city. Before each trip, I received from Yoram, my friend from Haifa, the directions I should take that day and the best Hummus in the area. In my later visits I used Yoram’s instructions less and less…" (Nurit Sharett)
MICHAL
Israel 2006
One Channel DV Video with Sound
Duration 7 min and 49 sec
4:3 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo.
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Soundtrack and music: Shalom Weinstein
Excerpt
MICHAL is made up of abstract footage of portraits of Nurit Sharett’s cousin Michal, who became newly religious. The work was inspired by "Orlando" by Virginia Wolf.
WINTER AT LAST
Israel 2005
One Channel mini DV Video with Sound
Duration 21 min and 47 sec
4:3 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo.
Hebrew and Swiss German with English subtitles
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Soundtrck Design: Shalom Weinstein
Excerpt
A video work composed of two video letters. One is to Jacqueline, a Swiss friend in Zurich. And the other is to Abla, a Palestinian friend in Nablus.
The two film-letters are composed from identical visual images, but each letter is edited in a different order and is accompanied by different language and content.
The letter to Jacqueline is in Swiss-German and the one to Abla is in English, the languages in which they speak with each other.
Both letters are dealing with friendship, love, yearning and the conflicts in daily life.
A VIDEO LETTER TO JACQUELINE
Israel 2003
One Channel mini DV Video with sound
Duraiton 15 min and 6 sec
4:3 Pal. 2 Ch Stereo.
Hebrew and Swiss German with English subtitles
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Excerpt
In A VIDEO LETTER TO JACQUELINE, the artist’s Swiss friend in Zurich, Nurit Sharett is sharing the peculiar time during the second Iraq war with her friend. Sharett confesses her mixed feelings about living in Israel and the fear that things will never be good in the country.
Tel Aviv Independence Day, 2003
Israel 2003 re-edited in 2009
One Channel DV Video with sound
Duraiton 8 min and 19 sec
4:3 Pal. 2 Ch Stereo.
Hebrew with English subtitles
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Soundtrack design: Shalom Weinstein
Excerpt
While filming the flags in Tel Aviv during Independence Day, a passerby approaches the film maker. A conversation begins about topics which are both personal and political.
IDENTITY
Israel 2003
One Channel mini DV Video with Sound
Duration 6 min and 30 sec
4:3 PAL. 2 Ch Stereo.
Hebrew with English subtitles
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Nurit Sharett
Excerpt
Through four short chapters touching upon her personal biography, Nurit Sharett in her video IDENTITY addresses issues of national identity, ethnicity, foreignness, and gender. Each chapter presents an object associated with her identity, accompanied by a personal story full of irony: her ID card, IDF discharge papers, a Swiss passport, and paper money. Through her personal story Sharett discusses the set of conventions underlying Israeli culture with both poetic and sharp approach.