Q&A with Amos Gitai, from architecture student to celebrated Israeli-French filmmaker

Israeli-French filmmaker Amos Gitai is internationally known for documentaries and feature films about the Middle East and broader Arab-Israeli conflict. As an architecture student in the 1970s, Gitai was wounded during the Yom Kippur War. The experience encouraged him to switch careers and begin making films. He has since created over 90 works of art including feature and short films, documentaries and theater performances. He has been nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival as well as the Golden Lion award at the Venice International Film Festival. His stories delve into the traumas of war and celebration of life in the face of adversity.

IMA Summer Series: Al-Monitor and the Institut du Monde Arabe are pleased to announce that highlights of the Al-Monitor podcast ‘Reading the Middle East with Gilles Kepel’ are available this summer in French as part of a six-episode summer series. Gilles Kepel, one of the world’s leading experts on Islam, the Middle East and North Africa and a professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, is the host of the Al-Monitor podcast featuring interviews with authors and thought leaders from around the world to discuss key trends in the region.

About Al-Monitor: Al-Monitor, honored with the International Press Institute’s Free Media Pioneer Award in 2014, provides reporting and analysis on the Middle East. Al-Monitor offers an in-depth focus on Egypt, Gulf, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey as well as US Congressional developments.

About The Institut du Monde Arabe: The Institut du Monde Arab was founded in 1980 by France alongside 18 Middle East and North African nations to research and distribute information about the Arab world and its cultural and spiritual values. The Institute is located in Paris in a building that was the recipient of the 1989 Aga Khan Award for Architectural Excellence.