Ran Tal’s The Garden of Eden to Open “Cinema Meets Reality” 2013

Director Ran Tal’s award winning documentary, The Garden of Eden, will open the 2013 season of “Cinema Meets Reality” – free screenings of films at the First International Bank of Israel, as part their “Culture and Community” program. The Garden of Eden will be shown on Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 20:00, in the auditorium on 42 Rothschild Avenue, Tel Aviv. The film is in Hebrew. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. To reserve a place, call 03-5130001.

The series will focus on films made in the periphery, the series curator is Yael Shuv, who intends to present films from “places where there still remain open spaces, open land, traveled not only by  people and pets, but also other animals. The films describe the different connections between people, their environment and their neighbors, in the changing light of day, and the passing seasons.” Five films will be shown in the series, all open to the public free of charge.

Opening the series will be The Garden of Eden. The film focuses on the landscape of Director Ran Tal’s youth, the Sakhne National Park (also known as Gan HaShlosha) near Beit She’an, where a spring flows, keeping the water warm and pleasant for swimming, attracting visitors year round. The film follows the place and the people over the course of a year, creating a portrait of the people and culture through their connection and interaction with the place.

Ran Tal received the award for Best Director of a Documentary Film for The Garden of Eden at the Jerusalem Film Festival 2012, the judges praising the director for “A meticulous exploration that stretches the boundaries of documentary film language, a beautiful orchestration between sound and image, creating a chronicle of what lies under the surface and behind the postcard.”