Benny Brunner

Benny Brunner is an Israeli–Dutch filmmaker based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish and Israeli modern history, and inspiring individuals are the subject matters of his films. Brunner has written, directed, and produced documentary films internationally since the mid 1980s. He does not believe in neutrality, balance or objectivity in documentary filmmaking, especially when state power is used to dominate the occupied, underprivileged, or the "other."

Filmography

[http://www.docsonline.tv/?search=The%20concrete%20curtain&type=title&docinfo=100 THE CONCRETE CURTAIN] 2004-5 / 76 min. documentary. Chronicles the daily lives of two Palestinian middle-class professional who live in the shadow of 'the wall' in the greater Jerusalem area.
Produced by Xela Films, Benny Brunner, and LASSO Film & TV Production.
Festivals: Palestine Film Festival, London 2005; Arab Film Festival, San Francisco 2005.
Screenings: Various cinemas in Holland and Belgium 2005; Tel Aviv and Jerusalem cinematheques 2006.

[http://www.docsonline.tv/?search=The%20Wall&type=title&docinfo=91 THE WALL] 2003 / 54 min. documentary. A critical look on the Israeli West Bank barrier as the Israelis call it, or "the apartheid wall" as the Palestinians refer to it.
Produced by Dutch TV (VPRO) and Benny Brunner.
Broadcast: Holland and Italy.
Festivals: 2004 Toronto JFF; 2004 Barcelona International JFF; 2004 Vienna Jewish Film Week.
Screenings: 2006 Tel Aviv and Jerusalem cinematheques.

The Lobby 2003 / 25 min. documentary. How powerful is the Jewish lobby in America is the central and only question asked in this documentary.
Produced by Dutch TV (IKON).
Broadcast: Holland and the Arab world (Al-Jazeera).

The Children of Abraham & Sophie 2002 / 95 min. documentary. An extraordinary 20th century family saga involving Christians, Jews, Muslims, Holocaust victims, and Nazis.
A co-production of LASSO Film & TV Production, Humanistische Omroep (Dutch TV), Noga Communication (Israel’s Channel 8), and Benny Brunner with financial support from STIFO.
Broadcast: Holland and Israel.
Festivals: 2004 Toronto JFF; 2004 Barcelona International JFF; 2004 Vienna Jewish Film Week .

[http://www.docsonline.tv/?search=It%20is%20no%20dream&type=title&docinfo=99 IT IS NO DREAM] 2002 / 53 min. documentary. "If you will it, it is no dream," wrote the founder of political Zionism Theodor Herzl in 1902, prophesizing the creation of a utopian Jewish state. One hundred years later, some of the harshest critics of Israel's occupation policies are Israelis themselves – a small minority of intellectuals, political activists and artists whose voices are rarely heard outside Israel.
Co-produced and co-directed with Joseph Rochlitz [http://www.josephrochlitz.com/] for Dutch TV (IKON).
Broadcast: YLE (Finland), SVT (Sweden), SBS (Australia), ETB & TVC (Spain). A 30 min. version of the film was broadcast on Dutch TV.
Festivals: 2003 San Francisco JFF; 2004 Toronto JFF; 2004 Barcelona International JFF; 2004 Vienna Jewish Film Week.

Kosher Friendly 2001 / 30 min. documentary. The sad-funny rebirth attempts of the Jewish Community of Wroclaw, Poland.
Co-produced and co-directed with Joseph Rochlitz for Dutch TV (NIK). Broadcast: Holland.
Festivals: 2002 Seattle JFF; 2003 Warsaw JFF.

Blood Money 1999-2000 / 60 min. documentary. The complex story of the restitution and compensation agreements – known also by the German term "Wiedergutmachung" (making amends) – between Germany, Israel, and the Jewish world.
Commissioned by ARTE. Produced by BB Films. Broadcast: Europe.

[http://www.docsonline.tv/?search=Al%20Nakba&type=title&docinfo=97 AL NAKBA: the Palestinian catastrophe 1948] 1997 / 58 min. documentary based on Benny Morris book "The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949". Arguably the first documentary that seriously describes the events that created 750,000 stateless Palestinian refugees at the end of the first Arab–Israeli war of 1948.
Commissioned by ARTE. Co-produced and co-directed with Alexandra Jansse [http://www.emffilms.com/] .
Broadcast: Europe.
Festivals: 1998 SF JFF; 1999 Köln Film Festival; 2001 One World International Film Festival in Prague; Vienna Jewish Film Week, 2004.
Screenings: 1998 Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem cinematheques.

The Avengers 1996 / 10 min. documentary. The little known story of a plan by Jewish ex-partisans to kill six million Germans after W.W.II in revenge for the Holocaust.
Produced by Die Zeit TV-Magazin. Broadcast: Germany, France, Holland.

The Seventh Million – The Israelis and the Holocaust 1995 / 2 x 55 min. documentary series based on Tom Segev's book by the same name. The series examines the most sensitive and previously closed chapters of Israel’s history. It casts a new light on the central trauma of Israeli society – the Holocaust – and reveals the uses and abuses of this trauma for political and economic manipulation.
Co-produced by ARTE, ZDF, IBA, ViewPOINT Productions, and Benny Brunner.
Broadcast: Europe, Australia and Israel.
Festivals: 1996 IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam); 1996 JIFF (Jerusalem International Film Festival); 1997 San Francisco JFF; 1998 San Diego JFF; 2004 Barcelona International JFF.

Cauchemar (nightmare in French and Russian) 1992 / 50 min. documentary. A look at some of Russian history's darkest aspects.
Produced by HOS (Dutch television). Broadcast: Holland.

A Philosopher For All Seasons 1991 / 54 min. documentary. An intellectual portrait of Israeli philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz [http://tpeople.co.il/leibowitz/] – arguably one of the five most important Jewish thinkers of the 20th century.
Produced by ViewPOINT Productions for HOS (Dutch television).
Broadcast: Holland, Australia, and Israel.
Prizes: A special commendation at the 1991 “European Non-Fiction Films Competition” – Prix D’Europa.

Romania, The Taming of the Intellectuals 1990 / 50 min. documentary. The motivations behind Romania’s intellectuals collaboration with Ceaucescu's regime.
Produced by ViewPOINT Productions for NOS (Dutch television). Broadcast: Holland, Finland, Australia, and Israel.

Links

DocsOnLine [http://www.docsonline.tv/] Viewpoint Productions [http://www.viewpointdocs.com/catalogue/05/director.html] Palestine Film Foundation [http://www.palestinefilm.org/resources.asp?aqu_sect=fil&film_type=y&aqu_id=29] United Civilians for Peace [http://www.unitedcivilians.nl/nl/doc.phtml?p=Audiovisueel+materiaal] Variety [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117928505.html?categoryid=31&cs=1]

* [http://www.docsonline.tv/?search=Benny%20Brunner&type=director The Benny Brunner collection online]