Amos Gitaï is an Israeli film-maker, internationally known for his documentaries and feature films about the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and personal and collective memory. Born in Haifa, Israel in 1950, he is the son of the Bauhaus-trained Polish architect, Munio Weinraub Gitaï, who fled the Nazi regime in Germany, where he was working in 1933, and the Israeli intellectual and activist, Efratia Margalit, a non-religious expert on biblical texts. While still an architecture student, Gitaï was wounded during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, when a medical evacuation helicopter in which he was travelling was hit by a Syrian missile. He has drawn on these biographical, familial and generational themes throughout his practice, as well as the trauma of war and the celebration of life in the face of adversity.
Gitaï's first feature-length documentaries House (1980) and Field Diary (1982) were rejected by the Israeli television commissioner. At odds with the authorities in his country, he settled in Paris where he shot several fictional and documentary films, including Esther (1985), Berlin-Jerusalem (1989) and Golem, the Spirit of Exile (1991). A passionate advocate for peace between Israel and Palestine, Gitaï further explores the role of memory in his stage productions, which combine film, music and acting. His performance Yitzhak Rabin: Chronicle of an Assassination Foretold (Festival d'Avignon, 2016) notably investigates the death of Yitzhak Rabin, a key figure in the Oslo Accords who was assassinated in 1995. His photographic works, which capture the emotional intensity of a single moment, represent an improvised autobiography that, with hindsight, bears testimony to a shared reality.
Gitaï has received numerous awards for his work, including a Leopard of Honour at the Locarno International Film Festival (2008), the Roberto Rossellini Prize at the Cannes Film Festival (2005) and the Robert Bresson Prize at the Venice International Film Festival (2013). Since 1999, several of his films have been entered in the Cannes Film Festival for the Palme d'Or, as well as at the Venice International Film Festival. Retrospectives of his work have been presented at numerous institutions worldwide, including the British Film Institute, London (1985); State Film Museum, Moscow (1991); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2003); The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2008); Cinémathèque Française, Paris (2014); and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2014).
2020
A Reading of Efratia Gitai Correspondence, performance, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA
Exils intérieurs, performance, Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, France
2019
Champs de mémoire, Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, France
A Reading of Efratia Gitai Correspondence, performance, Coronet Theatre, London, UK
Letter to a Friend in Gaza, performance, Spoleto Festival, Emmett Robinson Theater, Charleston, SC, USA; Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, France; Coronet Theatre, London, UK
2018
Yitzhak Rabin: Chronicle of an Assassination, performance, Philharmonie de Paris, Paris, France
2017
Amos Gitai: The Law of the Pursuer, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
Yitzhak Rabin: Chronicle of an Assassination, performance, Lincoln Center Festival, New York, NY, USA; John Anson Ford Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2016
Yitzhak Rabin: Chronicle of an assassination foretold, MAXXI | Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy; BOZAR | Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium; Collection Lambert, Avignon; Galerie 75 Faubourg, Paris, France
Yitzhak Rabin: Chronicle of an Assassination, performance, Cour d'honneur du Palais des Papes, Festival d'Avignon, Avignon, France
Otello, performance, Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, Italy
2015
Amos Gitai: Before and After, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
2014
Amos Gitai: Architecte de la mémoire, Cinémathèque française, Paris, France; Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland; Cinéma Galeries, Brussels, Belgium
Amos Gitai Strade | Ways Talking to Gabriele – Carpet – Lullaby to my Father, Palazzo Reale, Salle des Cariatides, Milan, ItalyArmy Day Horizontal. Army Day Vertical, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin, France
Las biografías de Amos Gitai, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
2012
Amos Gitai: Architecture de la mémoire, Église des Frères-Prêcheurs, Rencontres photographiques de Arles, Arles, France
2011
Amos Gitai: Architetture della memoria, Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Turin, Italy
Traces. Lullaby to My Father, Museum of Art, Ein Harod, Israel; Bauhaus Dessau, Dessau, Germany
Traces. Efratia's Correspondence, Museum of Art, Ein Harod, Israel
Amos Gitai: Traces, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
2010
A Reading of Efratia Gitai Correspondence, performance, Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe, Paris, France
2009
Amos Gitai: Citations, Evento 2009, Bordeaux, France
Munio Weinraub, Amos Gitai: Architektur und Film in Israel, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany; Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
La Guerre des fils de lumière contre les fils des ténèbres, performance, Carrière de Boulbon, Festival d’Avignon, Avignon, France; Forteresse Rumeli Hisari, Istanbul, Turkey; Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe, Paris, France
2008
Amos Gitai: Non-Fiction, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA
2006
Amos Gitai: News From House / News From Home, Kunst-Werke, Berlin, Germany; Centre chorégraphique national, Montpellier, France
2003
Amos Gitai: Parcours, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
1993
La Guerre des fils de lumière contre les fils des ténèbres, performance, 45th Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
1992
Gibellina, metamorfosi di una melodia, performance, Festival de Gibellina, Sicily, Italy
2023
Moviment. 1 lieu, 10 chapitres, 100 propositions, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2020
30 Years in Paris, Thaddeaus Ropac, Paris Pantin, France
2017
Ficciones y territorios, Arte para pensar la nueva razón del mundo, Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
2014
The Disasters of War: 1800-2014, Musée du Louvre-Lens, Lens, France
2013
Disaster, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin, France
1998
Opening Chen Zhen, Pavillon Helena Rubinstein pour l’art contemporain, Tel Aviv, Israel
1975
Recycling Exhibition, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Spain
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
USA
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
2011
Docteur honoris causa of Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
Docteur Honoris Causa de l’Université de Saint-Quentin en Yvelines
Distinction for Excellence, Technion Institute of Technology, Haifa
Président du Jury du Festival de Deauville
Membre du Jury du Festival international du film de Moscou
2010
Membre du Jury du Festival international du film de Shanghai
2008
Léopard d'honneur du 61e Festival de Locarno
2007
Prix Roberto Rossellini pour Désengagement
Membre du Jury de la Mostra de Venise
2005
Distinction for Excellence, Berkeley University of California, School of Envrironment and Design
Prix Roberto Rossellini pour l’ensemble de son oeuvre
2002
Kedma reçoit le grand prix du festival international du film de Sao Paulo
2000
Chevalier des Arts et Lettres