“Zahara” begins with an aerial view over Jerusalem, the site of events that took place some 70 years ago and inspired this film. A female figure slowly revolves around herself to finally succumb to the ground, dragging a giant, magnificent wing. She harks back to Zahara Levitov, a young pilot killed in a plane crash on a civilian mission in 1948 at the Valley of the Cross. The elderly woman coming to her rescue is based on Ruth Dayan, a public figure in Zionism who, 10 years her elder, had gone on to live for many years after. Re-imagined as mythological figures from an ancient-futuristic time, the two make their way in the streets of a modern-day Jerusalem – through alleyways, the old market and main thoroughfares – to reach the hospital where Zahra died of her wounds. The aerial shot at the end connects the circular motion seen at the beginning, of a fall from heaven, to the Zahara’s apotheosis, tying a final journey between two geographic spots and the one-time, fateful encounter between two female characters.

Ayelet Carmi and Meirav Heiman

https://vimeo.com/568319870