Friday Nov 04, 2022
Black Notebooks: Ronit / Film School Radio interview with Director Shlomi Elkabetz
Based on family archives and excerpts from the trilogy created by Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz - BLACK NOTEBOOKS: RONIT invites us into the intimacy of a Jewish-Arab family, a family of uprooted exiles, in an imaginary story where a brother and sister revisit the past and the present to defy an implacable future. Ronit Elkabetz was a beloved and critically acclaimed star of Israeli cinema (LATE MARRIAGE, THE BAND’S VISIT, GETT). Elkabetz’s versatility, beauty and magnetism prompted the New York Times, in 2008, to dub her “Israel’s Meryl Streep,” while other international critics compared her to an Almodovar heroine. Ronit Elkabetz co-directed three films, including GETT, with her brother, Shlomi Elkabetz. In BLACK NOTEBOOKS: RONIT, his love letter to his sister and to cinema, Shlomi chronicles the making of their film GETT, as the siblings are faced with Ronit’s illness. Determined for Ronit to stay alive they embark on a journey, traveling the world with their film and attempting to change destiny. Ronit Elkabetz died in 2016 at the age of 51. Director Shlomi Elkabetz joins us to talk about his decision to move forward with this film, Ronit’s artistry as a performer and director and the lasting impact her passing has had on the people whose lives she touched. For news and screenings go to: panoramafilmsus.com/black-notebooks