Jerusalem Jewish film fest screens documentary about Peres
Created by Academy Award-winning director Richard Trank for Simon Wiesenthal Center, narrated by George Clooney, movie depicts life of one of Israel’s best-known statesmen
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
One of the films screened at the current Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival is Richard Trank’s documentary about Shimon Peres, created for the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s film division, Moriah Films.
“Never Stop Dreaming – The Life and Legacy of Shimon Peres” is part of the festival’s Jewish Minds genre. It’s an engrossing 126 minutes created by Trank, an Academy Award winner, who spent the better part of a year in Israel interviewing Peres, nine months before he died in 2016.
The film is narrated by George Clooney, and features Peres speaking about his childhood in Belarus and youth in pre-state Israel as well as his various political roles.
There are also interviews with former US presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama as well as actress Barbra Streisand, former British prime minister Tony Blair and members of the Peres family.
Trank is currently in Israel shooting for Moriah’s next production, a biography on David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister.
