Title of film : The Island
Director Name : Adam Weingrod
Cast & crew :
Producer : Adam Weingrod
Editor : Katia Shepeliavaya
Cast :
Synopsis : Adam Weingrod’s award-winning feature documentary is a stirring look at the inhabitants and workers of the St. Louis French Hospital—a Hospice for terminally ill patients—situated on the tense border between East and West Jerusalem. Employing a Frederick Wiseman-esque observational style, Weingrod’s soulful film inhabits this centuries old hospital over a period of two years as its workers tend to the critically ill inhabitants housed there, helping them to live out the remaining days of their lives with dignity. While the film’s focus revolves around end-of-life care, it is far from dreary. Instead, finding great warmth, resonance and even joy in human interaction, even in this unlikeliest of places. This is a film that relishes the quiet moments of life, working from the assumption that these little moments—a shared laugh, an anecdote between workers, a hug, a routine act of kindness—build to something greater than the bigger milestones by which we often judge our lives. The world outside the hospital is fraught with divisions, tensions and even war between the various religious and ethnic factions that inhabit the city. Within the walls of St. Louis French Hospital, Jews, Christians, and Muslims work together, finding meaning and camaraderie in their mission to bring comfort to those living out their final days. One exits this deeply moving film wishing that the caring dynamic on display inside hospital walls could be replicated outside its confines.
Director Bio : Adam was born in the late 1980s to a family of artists in Jerusalem, Israel. After completing his B.A. in music at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy where he majored in jazz and went on to perform all over the world, Adam returned to film, his original passion. In 2016, Adam obtained his M.F.A. in film, graduating with Honors from Tel Aviv University. Adam directed, produced and edited "Funjoya" (16 min) which won the Audience Award at the Tel Aviv International Student Festival in 2016. Also in 2016, Adam received First Prize for Development from the CoPro Israeli Documentary Marketing Foundation for his film "The Island," which was supported later on by the main Israeli TV channel yes Docu, and premiered at the DocAviv Film Festival in 2017. Currently Adam is working on two new Documentary films. “Song of the Sampaguita”- The story of a seven year old girl who fled Natzi Germany to the only place that took her in, the Philippine Islands. The film was chosen for the “Docu Start” lab 2017, funded by “The Israeli Documentary Filmmakers Forum” and “Gesher multicultural film fund”. “At the Foot of the Volcano”- Danny lives on a “Kibutz” beside the Lebanese border, growing up in Israel he fought in all of Israel wars. Now at the age of 67 he retires and goes around the world searching for one question: “Why do people keep living underneath active Volcanoes?” The Film started its principal shooting in Feb’ 2017 in Nicaragua and will continue in Jan’ 2018 in Japan and the Philippines.
Filmography :
