(2024, France, Switzerland, Italy, 90')
When the United Nations asked Einstein in 1932 to choose an intellectual to whom he could pose a single question, his choice fell on Freud. Their dialogue begins with two words, reflected in the title of the film Why War, which have shaped modern discourse on mass violence perpetrated in the name of religion, race, and nationality. Amos Gitai, inspired by the exchange of letters between the two, traces the roots of war and conducts research to investigate the motivations that drive human beings to be the creators of such horrors.
Amos Gitai (1950) is an Israeli director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his socially engaged films that often explore themes such as war, displacement, and the complex realities of life in Israel and the Middle East. His interest in these subjects is driven by the influence of his personal experiences, as reflected in his semi-autobiographical film Kippur (2000), which portrays the war he experienced. One of the greatest living Israeli filmmakers, regularly invited to the world’s most important film festivals, Gitai is, above all, an intellectual who asserts the right to criticize his own country precisely because he is deeply connected to its fate, both personally and professionally. This is his second participation in the Venice Competition, after Rabin, The Last Day in 2015.
