"With all its might, the state of Israel since its founding day did not rest in its efforts to erase Palestine. This project did not succeed, not only because the Palestinians continue to demand their return, but also because Jewish citizens who themselves participated in the expulsion and erasure are reawaking the nightmares of their acts and are trying to open the past and seek for change, remedy and recompensation. Lia Tarachansky's film is especially important as it attempts to follow this very process of awakening and sobering up of these Jewish citizens who were not only participants in the crime but who erased their own roles within it." - Ariella Azoulay
My name is Lia Tarachansky and I’m a Russian-Israeli (and Canadian) video journalist covering Israel/Palestine for The Real News. I’m also the director of this upcoming documentary, Seven Deadly Myths (working title).
This film tells the stories of four veterans of the 1948 war that erased from the Israeli landscape hundreds of Palestinian villages and connects their stories to the modern-day Palestinian dispossession through the occupation and settlements. The film also profiles my personal journey from a place of denial, growing up in a settlement in the heart of the occupied West Bank, to confronting a landscape of erasure and denial.
This film is important not just as a documentary about the Middle East and our conflict. It is a film that challenges taboos and sheds light into the darkest corners of colonialism. Thanks to this film I have already had the privilege of addressing audiences all over the world, from South Africa to North America, Europe and Israel itself, and discover that because the voices in this film are of those who themselves participated in the processes of denial, it opens conversations and spaces for change that otherwise remain barbwired in contention.
I have now finished filming this documentary, and I need funds for its post-production. In collaboration with such innovative projects as Jaffa 2030 and Zochrot, this film will become part of a campaign of discourse and relearning for Israelis and Palestinians, and for audiences around the world.
What We Need
We need to hire a Hebrew-speaking editor, and for this we need to raise $10,000. The second $10,000 will go towards the process of editing, color-correction, and sound mixing.
- Funds for an editor (to build the most interesting and beautiful version of the film)
- Image post production (color correction and broadcast prep)
- A sound engineer to sound mix the film
![Remains of the Kakun castle and village]( "Kakun")
What You Get
Because this film is linked to reeducation and discovery projects in Israel/Palestine, we have linked the perks to the funding!
Maps are highly political, as they rarely show the layers underneath what’s present. However, the Israeli organization Zochrot, which fights to include the Nakba in Hebrew discourse, schools, and history built a map that does just that. It illustrates the greater Tel Aviv metropolis, and marks the seven Palestinian villages on which it is built when they were expelled and destroyed during and immediately after the 1948 war. If you donate $50 we will send you this map, and when you are in Tel Aviv yourself, you can use it to discover what remains and what has been erased. If you donate $500 we will send you Zochrot’s recently released Sedek book, a journal of art that delves into the ongoing Nakba.
In 2012, Jaffa 2030, built an autobiography of the city of Jaffa, once the capital of Palestinian culture and life. An innovative map was designed by the talented Michal Vexler. It includes the past, the present, and a hope for a mutual future in a city divided by gentrification but filled with hope of real coexistence. If you donate $100 to the project, we will send you this incredible multilingual map!
If you donate more, we will send you these materials and include an autographed copy of the film alongside passes to the theatrical release in a city near you.
QUICK NOTE: $20,000 is a lot of money, but I have to send out a shoutout to the talented and generous volunteers who have already helped and donated so much to make this film a reality! For example, volunteers helped with videography and research, a friend decided to volunteer his skills as a composer and a Bethlehem-based musician donated his music. Hundreds of others helped distribute and spread the word about this fundraising campaign, and with your help, we’ll be able to get past the last hurdle and finish its post production!
![Remains of the village of Lifta, on the foothills of Jerusalem]( "Lifta")
Other Ways You Can Help
CONNECT
Do you know a great Hebrew-language video editor (hopefully based in Ottawa)? A brilliant fine editor that can do color correction? A genius sound mixer? Please tell us about them!
ORGANIZE:
Organize a fundraising dinner or speaking event with the director for your friends, family, activist group, or class. To find out how go on www.sevendeadlymyths.com and contact us.
SHARE:
Follow us on Twitter
Like and share our Facebook page
Tell your friends about this Indie Go Go campaign
