Looking for Moshe Guez

Synopsis

Looking for Moshe Guez follows director Avida Livny as he searches for a childhood memory: his memories from the first Israeli horror film, The Angel Was a Devil, which he has seen once in the 1980s, as a 10-year-old. Having forgotten about the film, he "discovers" it again in a book by Meir Schnitzer concerning Israeli cinema, where it is described as "the worst film ever made in Israel".

The first part of Looking for Moshe Guez focuses on the search in Israel, which was produced between 1971–1976, with Guez as the film director, screenwriter, star, cinematographer, recorder and editor. Among the participants who remember Guez or his film are journalist Lisa Peretz, played by Ophelia Strahl, who described it as the "Israeli Ed Wood". The second part of the film, which takes part in the Boston area where Guez and his family have been living since the 1980s, enables us to see for the first time scenes from the "director's cut".

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Gidi Avivi for Noga Communications – Channel 8 with the support of the Yehoshua Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts – Cinema Project.

Critical response

Avner Shavit, the film critic of Walla, describes the unique manner in which Livny presents Guez's story, without being judgmental or condenscending. Shavit sees the film as "a moving, fascinating and unforgettable work of art about the different dimensions of the endless passion for film, about the eccentric dimension of local culture, and about the fact that time sometimes does not heal wounds, only makes them more painful."

Festivals, awards and nominations

The premiere screening of Looking for Moshe Guez took place at the Haifa International Film Festival, on October 19, 2011. The film was selected to the 2011 edition of IDFA's Docs for Sale.