DocAviv Awards “1341 Frames of Love and War” wins multiple awards

Ran Tal’s moving documentary 1341 Frames of Love and War has won three major awards at DocAviv and has been sold in seven regions by distribution company Reservoir Docs.

Tal took home the Best Director award, while Nilli Feller took home the Editor award. In addition, the documentary won the Kedar Foundation’s $15,000 award for a film inspired by the history and society of Israel.

Since its world premiere at the Berlinale Special Sidebar of the Berlin Film Festival, Reservoir Docs, which handles world distribution excluding North America, Israel, Greece and Portugal, has sold the document to several countries including Non Stop (Nordic), Tanweer Films (Greece) and Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais (Portugal).

The document is a collage of still images taken by Israel’s most famous war photographer, Micha Bar-Am, and was produced by Tal and Sarig Peker. Composed almost entirely of archival images Bar-Am captured over five decades, the document is driven by Tal’s conversations with Bar-Am and his wife Orna, whose amazing archival skills helped preserve her husband’s memory.

In conversation with diversity Ahead of the document’s world premiere at the Berlinale, Tal said: “Orna is very important to the Bar-Am project. Micha is the big artist and has been everywhere, but she’s totally part of the game. She was always there: she chose the photos, she is often the one who creates the exhibitions, who is responsible for the catalogues.” She has strong opinions on events and ethical issues, so “it was important to have her voice and use those two characters to build new layers within the film.”

Tal added: “It’s about Micah, it’s about photography, it’s about war, it’s about post-trauma, memory, old age,” but the Israeli experience and history is also present. “It’s not about Israel, but Israel is always there.”

Bar-Am worked for the renowned Magnum photo agency, founded by Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson, among others, and his iconic photos have been featured in some of the world’s most well-known publications, including The New York Times, Paris Match and Stern.

The Israeli premiere of “Frames” took place in DocAviv, which ran from May 26 to June 5, in the presence of 91-year-old Bar-Am. It is in competition at the 62nd Kraków International Film Festival and has been announced as a UK premiere in the official selection for the upcoming Sheffield DocFest.

In addition, from June 17 to December this year, the major art exhibition “The Last Photograph: Ran Tal after Micha Bar-Am” will open at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Curated by Dr. Noam Gal, it is dedicated to the transformation of Bar-Am’s photographic archive into a film and film installation. Various episodes of the film are shown simultaneously at nine large-screen viewing stations in an expansive gallery space.

1341 Frames of Love and War is supported by YES Docu, Makor Fund, Mifaal HaPaiis and supported by the Jewish Film Institute (San Francisco) and The Other Israel (New York).

Doc is slated to hit theaters in Israel on June 23.