Jerusalem International Film Festival – Israel ( July 2012 ) [ Best Director Award ]
• International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam – The Netherlands ( November 2012 )
• True/False Film Festival – USA/Missouri ( March 2013 )
• HOT DOCS – Canada ( April 2013 )
• Independant Film Festival Boston – USA/Massachusetts ( April 2013 )
• Dok Fest Munich – Germany ( May 2013 )
• Planet + Doc Film Festival – Poland ( May 2013 )
• Seret – London Israeli Film Festival – England ( June 2013 )
• Pärnu Film Festival – Estonia ( July 2013 )
• Mediteran Film Festival – Bosnia ( August 2013 ) [ Grand Prix - Best Feature Award ]
• New Orleans International Film Festival – USA/Louisiana ( October 2013 )
• Chicago Israeli Film Festival – USA/Illinois ( October 2013 )
• Bucharest Jewish Film Festival – Romania ( October 2013 )
• PKF Italy – Italy ( November 2013 )
• International Jewish Film Festival – Australia ( November 2013 )
• Miradas Doc – Spain ( November 2013 )
• Other Israel Film Festival – USA/NY ( November 2013 )
• Camerimage – Poland ( November 2013 )
• MATI Center Israeli Film Festival – USA/California ( December 2013 )
Miradas Doc 2013 - Best Documentary Film Award
Winner of - Best documentary feature film, Editing prize, Cinematography Prize, Best Original Score & Best Sound Design - Israeli Documentary Filmmakers Forum Awards 2013
The story of the “Sakhne”, one of the largest, most famous and most visited parks in Israel.
Documentary, Canon 5D, 75 min.
Languages: Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese
Subtitles: English
Directed by - Ran Tal
Produced by - Amir Harel, Ayelet Kait, Ran Tal
Script by - Ran Tal
In participation With
Lama Film, yes Docu, The Makor Foundation for Israeli Films, Israel Lottery council for culture & arts
Editor - Nily Feller
Cinematographer - Daniel Kedem
Sound Designer- Alex Claude
Sound Recording- Tully Chen
Original Music- Avi Belleli
Additional photography- Itay Marom
“The Garden of Eden” is the story of Gan HaShlosha, better known as the “Sakhne”, one of the largest, most famous and most visited parks in Israel.
During the spring, summer, fall and winter seasons of one full year, the film documents the park’s transformation, and with a spectacular expression of cinematic beauty, it tells the stories of the people who visit the park and work therein:
Yaacov, whose wife left him and who has since been living a sad and lonely existence; Athir, who is planning to move to Canada because life in Israel does not enable him to reach his full potential; Yael, who was forced to wed at the age of 13 and suffered many years of physical and mental abuse; Itzhak, who has yet to recover from the death of his brother in war and seeks a refuge from the mourning in the cool waters. These are but some of the captivating and touching individuals which the camera encounters.
Director Ran Tal, who dismantled and reassembled the myth of the kibbutz in his film “Children of the Sun”, studies the innermost parts of Israeli society with humor, beauty, pain and compassion in the least expected location – a recreation park.
.
"A meticulous exploration that stretches the boundaries of documentary film language, a beautiful orchestration between sound and image, creating a chronicle of what lies under the surface and behind the postcard."
(From Jerusalem International film festival Jury statement)
The Garden of Eden is an increasingly rare meditation on the possibility of co-existence" (Walla Internat site)
"Acclaimed filmmaker Ran Tal discusses his unusual filmmaking"
(Ha'aretz newspaper)
"A Work of Art" (Time out magazine)
"I like and appreciate director Ran Tal’s documentary vision. Contrary to many Israeli documentary filmmakers, who, though their films focus on interesting and important themes, implement a documentary process that overlooks the options which are inherent in documentary cinema and the practical and theoretical questions that it evokes – Tal’s films are evidence of documentary cinematic thinking that strives to make a documentary in a personal and unique way." (Uri Klein Haaretz)