Amos Gitai movie about Jerusalem light rail premieres in Venice

Two new films by veteran filmmaker Amos Gitai are being screened at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, “A Tramway in Jerusalem” and “A Letter to a Friend in Gaza.”

“A Tramway in Jerusalem,” which was completed last January, is a comic collection of episodes that were all filmed on the city’s light rail, a transportation system in which all of the capital’s populations mix on a daily basis.

Gitai said the train was a metaphor for life in Jerusalem.

The 90-minute, seven-language film has a large cast of actors that includes Hana Laslo, Yuval Sherf, Keren Mor, Rotem Abuhav, Yael Abecassis, Liron Levo, Eran Sabag, Ahinoam Nini as herself, and others.

Hana Laslo (left) and Amos Gitai in an outtake from filming ‘A Tramway in Jerusalem,’ Gitai’s latest film (Courtesy Amos Gitai)

The other Gitai film is “A Letter to a Friend in Gaza,” a 35-minute homage to Albert Camus, in which the noted left-wing filmmaker explores Israeli policies toward Palestinians by highlighting texts from well-known writers and thinkers.