The Painted Bird

The film follows the journey of a boy, entrusted by his Jewish parents to an elderly foster mother in an effort to escape persecution. Following a tragedy, the boy is on his own.  Wandering through the desecrated countryside, the boy encounters villagers and soldiers whose own lives have been brutally altered, and who are intent on revisiting this brutality on the boy. When the war ends, the boy has been changed, forever. 

Director Václav Marhoul's film is a series of tableaux that take our helpless protagonist on a brutal journey into a period of incongruous and untempered hatred and fear of the other. This harsh world is captured in uncomfortable detail in Vladimir Smutny's stunning 35mm black-and-white cinematography. But the film also captures moments of compassion and hope, as well as magnificent performances by Harvey Keitel, Udo Kier, and Stellan Skarsgard. Additionally to that, it is the first film to feature the Interslavic language.

Date of online screening : 10-20.12.2020
Online screening at the Jerusalem Film Festival website

Tickets - 25NIS ( Limited number of tickets available)