Fragments * Jerusalem, Part I 12:00, Part II

Presented in two three-hour cycles, Fragments * Jerusalem is an epic, lyrical interweaving of one man's family history with the history of a city from Biblical times to the present. Documentarian Ron Havilio spent over ten years accumulating artifacts and interviews and combining home movies, archival materials, anecdotes, paintings, and photographs, so that the resulting film is as much about cinema examining its own language as it is about his forefathers or Jerusalem. Constantly shifting between past and present, Havilio depicts a profoundly anachronistic city where ancient history informs and affects modern life. In Cycle One Havilio tours the Old City and explores artistic depictions of Jerusalem from the nineteenth century. The second cycle traces the family lineage through wars, riots, pogroms, and terrorist attacks. A secularist, Havilio has invented his own form of prayer, or study, through cinema, one in which he meditates on the pursuit of lasting human happiness and the cyclical nature of life.

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