Amos Gitai
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Born in Haifa in 1950, as the second son of architect Munio Weinraub
and former Sionist activist Efratia Margalit. On the year of his birth,
his parents changed the family name to "Gitai", which is the Hebrew
translation of the German name "Weinraub". While he was a student in
architecture, Amos Gitai joined the Yom Kippur war in 1973 as a reserve
duty officer, and served as part of a helicopter rescue team. While
serving during the war, he started filming with a 8mm camera his mother
gave him as his birthday present. On his 23rd birthday, October 11th
1973, his helicopter was shot down by a Syrian missile. Among the 7
crews on board, 6 of them survived, including Gitai himself, who was
inspired by this traumatic experience to quit architecture and move to
filmmaking. He made a documentary on this incident and his fellow
survivors, "Kippur: War Memories" in 1993, then a fictional recreation
of it "Kippur" in 2000.
in 1979, Gitai directed his first feature-length documentary "House",
commissioned by Israel's public television. The television rejected the
film, and the film (originally shot in 16mm) only exists today copied
from a VHS tape he managed to secure. The tape traveled on few
international festivals and quickly earned a reputation for him. His
third documentary, "Field Diary" shot in 1983 was also rejected by the
Israeli Television who originally commissioned it. This time, Gitai
moved to France with the negative of the film and completed it in
France. For the next 10 years, he based himself in Europe.
1n 1986, he directed his first feature fictional film "Esther", based
on the Biblical story of the book of Esther.
In 1993, following prime minister Ytzhak Rabin starting the peace
process with Palestine, Gitai and his family moved back to live in his
native town of Haifa.
and former Sionist activist Efratia Margalit. On the year of his birth,
his parents changed the family name to "Gitai", which is the Hebrew
translation of the German name "Weinraub". While he was a student in
architecture, Amos Gitai joined the Yom Kippur war in 1973 as a reserve
duty officer, and served as part of a helicopter rescue team. While
serving during the war, he started filming with a 8mm camera his mother
gave him as his birthday present. On his 23rd birthday, October 11th
1973, his helicopter was shot down by a Syrian missile. Among the 7
crews on board, 6 of them survived, including Gitai himself, who was
inspired by this traumatic experience to quit architecture and move to
filmmaking. He made a documentary on this incident and his fellow
survivors, "Kippur: War Memories" in 1993, then a fictional recreation
of it "Kippur" in 2000.
in 1979, Gitai directed his first feature-length documentary "House",
commissioned by Israel's public television. The television rejected the
film, and the film (originally shot in 16mm) only exists today copied
from a VHS tape he managed to secure. The tape traveled on few
international festivals and quickly earned a reputation for him. His
third documentary, "Field Diary" shot in 1983 was also rejected by the
Israeli Television who originally commissioned it. This time, Gitai
moved to France with the negative of the film and completed it in
France. For the next 10 years, he based himself in Europe.
1n 1986, he directed his first feature fictional film "Esther", based
on the Biblical story of the book of Esther.
In 1993, following prime minister Ytzhak Rabin starting the peace
process with Palestine, Gitai and his family moved back to live in his
native town of Haifa.