At the height of an August heat wave, Avi Mograbi looks critically at his country and his compatriots, cleverly revealing the hidden face of Jerusalem.

In an absurdist romp reminiscent of Nanni Moretti's Dear Diary, Mograbi sets out to make a film about what it is he hates about August in Israel. After a series of false starts derided by his wife as morbid and uninspiring, the true theme of his project emerges: recording people's reactions to his own artifice as filmmaker. Arab workers, wealthy Jewish suburbanites, soccer enthusiasts, Palestinian stone throwers and Israeli policemen - no one escapes the dogged gaze of his camera, the bitter righteousness of his wit. In a satirical twist of fate, Mograbi himself becomes the August that he so hates, subject to the very same hatred, intolerance and misunderstanding with which he approaches this calendric signifier.


A film by Avi Mograbi

Israel, 2002, doc, 72'

Doc Alliance Films

Year of production: 2002

Subtitles available: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, German.