Israel Film Archive Makes Thousands of Titles Accessible Through New Website
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Director of the Israeli Film Archive Meir Ruso and Digitalization project manager Hila Avraham. Photo: Bar Mayer.
The Jerusalem Cinematheque’s Israel Film Archive has made its collection of original Israeli narratives and documentary films accessible to viewers from around the world with the launch of a new website announced on Thursday.
The archive, which preserves Israeli works from the late 19th century onwards, began seven years ago to digitize its rare film and video footage, some of which was stored for years in tin cans and never previously seen by the public. Its catalog, which includes 8,000 topics and 4,000 figures, is now available for viewing on a new website where users can look up public figures, dates, or landmarks. The works are translated, tagged, and searchable in English and Hebrew.
The director of the Israel Film Archive, Noa Regev, said the project aimed to transform it “into a digital cultural institution accessible to everyone everywhere.”
“The new platform will no doubt serve researchers, filmmakers, culture and history buffs, students, and anyone looking to locate cinematic materials from their personal history,” Regev added.
The new website features two main on-demand options. By choosing the “Historical View,” users get to see Israel through the lens of rare archival materials from the early 20th century until the 1970s. Those works include Jewish physicist Albert Einstein in a home movie from 1949, visits to Israel by Hollywood stars and politicians, the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during World War I, and thousands of other newsreels and home videos.
The website’s “Artistic View” option offer a selection of over 300 feature classics and documentaries made in Israel. Some of the films come provided with English subtitles for the first time ever, including a number of Israeli classic cult films such as Avi Nesher’s “Sing Your Heart Out,” Boaz Davidson’s “Alex is Lovesick,” and Assi Dayan’s “Halfon Hill Doesn’t Answer. ”
The “Historical View” option is free of charge in both the English and Hebrew versions; the “Artistic View” contains some feature films that are accessible for a small fee.
