Genesis of the project
The director on the genesis of the project
Having completed my last film Absolut, I was keen to continue developing the theme of resistance in my next film. During my research I came across the novel Dawn by Elie Wiesel. I was immediately fascinated by this novel and by the fact that a Nobel Peace Prize winning author was concerned by the states of mind of a killer – a freedom fighter or a terrorist, depending on the perspective. But the young Elisha and Elie Wiesel have a common past: both are survivors of the camps, forced to reinvent a life. Unlike the author who dedicated his life to the promotion of peace and the memory of the Shoah, Elisha joined the Zionist underground movement, fighting for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and especially the way it is treated here in the West was another reason of my interest in this project. As soon as we dig into history in search for explanations, we realize that there are many hidden historical facts, including those of 1947 and 1948, particularly important and painful. I am now convinced that we Europeans do not only bear a heavy responsibility towards the plight of the Jews in Europe, but also towards the plight of the Palestinians.