The Glory of Defeat

Directed & produced by Nadav Aronowicz & Iris Ozer

73 Minutes | DCP | 1:1.77 | 5.1 Mix

Hebrew / Russian / French

Supported by the Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts

Synopsis

Almost a thousand years ago, in what is now northern Israel, a Muslim army defeated the Crusaders, ending their rule in the Holy Land. In 2021, amidst social turmoil and anti-government protests, Gennady Nizhnik, a historical reenactor, embarks on a journey away from the present and into the past. The journey winds through the scorching Galilee, weaving between fact and fiction, between modern Israel and an imagined Holy Land, in an attempt to relive the very defeat that changed the course of Middle Eastern history—a defeat whose bloody echoes can still be heard today.

Directors, producers, editors: Nadav Aronowicz & Iris Ozer

Director of photography: Israel Sergei Freedman

Original music score: Daniel Markovich