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Amos Gitai highlights art’s power: “Picasso won the battle of memory against Franco”

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News From a news agency Context piece
  • Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai said Pablo Picasso defeated Francisco Franco in the “battle of memory,” because Guernica remains the defining image of the Spanish Civil War.
  • Gitai presented The Road to Jericho in Venice, a visual poem about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict centered on Bedouins facing expulsion from Khan al-Ahmar.
  • He said dialogue, rather than boycotts, offers the only alternative to war, while acknowledging that he is not optimistic about the current situation.

Amos Gitai does not claim to be optimistic about the Middle East. But at the Venice Film Festival, the Israeli filmmaker argued that art can still win a different kind of battle, the battle over memory.

In the duel between Franco and Picasso, Franco won because he was in power for almost 40 years, but in the battle of memory, Picasso won: when you want an image of the Spanish Civil War, it is Guernica.

· Amos GitaiThe filmmaker used Picasso’s Guernica to illustrate art’s lasting symbolic power.

“In the duel between Franco and Picasso, Franco won because he was in power for almost 40 years, but in the battle of memory, Picasso won: when you want an image of the Spanish Civil War, it is Guernica,” Gitai said in Venice while presenting The Road to Jericho.

Screened out of competition, the film is built as a musical and visual journey, mixing documentary and fiction. Its focus is the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, which faces expulsion by settlers, but Gitai uses the story to reflect more broadly on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to invite dialogue.

Some of us pretend that we have real power. We do not, and we do not want to have it. We only have symbolic power, but symbolic power is also power. So I want to raise my voice.

· Amos GitaiGitai explained why he believes cinema can contribute to debate despite lacking political power.

“Some of us pretend that we have real power. We do not, and we do not want to have it. We only have symbolic power, but symbolic power is also power. So I want to raise my voice,” he said. The film draws inspiration from Virginia Woolf’s Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid and Oscar Wilde’s Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves. It also incorporates excerpts from Gitai’s earlier films, including Carmel, Rabin, the Last Day and West of the Jordan River.

I believe in dialogue. I do not believe in boycotts. In the middle of this toxic situation, we have to talk. What is the alternative? The alternative is war.

· Amos GitaiHe called for dialogue over boycotts in response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The film includes an interview with former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a key figure in efforts to find a negotiated solution with the Palestinians. Rabin says peace is sealed with the enemy and that too many wars have been fought “in the name of peace.” Gitai said the region cannot be divided into angels and villains, while offering a grim assessment of reconciliation. “I would not say that I am optimistic, because that would sound too naive, since the situation is bad, very bad,” he said. He described The Road to Jericho as almost a lament for a country he loves but whose policies he does not share.

I would not say that I am optimistic, because that would sound too naive, since the situation is bad, very bad.

· Amos GitaiGitai acknowledged his pessimism about the prospects for reconciliation.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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