Mor Loushy is an award-winning Israeli director. Her debut film, “Israel Ltd,” premiered at IDFA and was broadcast worldwide. Her latest documentary, “Censored Voices,” won an Ophir Award for best documentary. “Censored Voices” premiered at Sundance Film Festival, screened at BFI London and IDFA, and was released theatrically worldwide.
“The Oslo Diaries” will premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 21. The film is co-directed by Daniel Sivan.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
ML: “The Oslo Diaries” is a personal journey in a very big political moment. We’re going back to the one decisive moment that almost changed our history — a tipping point in which two sworn enemies had taken a leap of faith, which seems unimaginable nowadays.
Striving to understand why we keep failing in peacemaking, we have uncovered a passionate story of the people who were behind the scenes during the secret negotiations that are now called the “Oslo Accords,” told in their own words from their personal diaries and memories.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
ML: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is part of my daily life. As a citizen of the State of Israel that is turning more and more to the right, a state that is acting zealously to maintain the status quo of the occupation, and as a mother bringing up my children in Israel, the conflict and our future in this place preoccupies me constantly.
I wanted to understand in depth what exactly happened here at that specific moment in time, 25 years ago, when there was a hope for peace, hope for a better future. Hope, which in retrospect, failed.
I wanted to know, and I want people to know, what happened back then in order to understand whether it is possible to reach peace in the future.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
ML: I would like people to come out with the sense that peace and understanding between the two nations is possible, that there exists a solution to the conflict and that we only need to reach towards it.
I would hope to enhance in the viewers the understanding that the path on which the Israeli Government is taking us is a path of rejection to peace, and that this understanding will arouse dejection, and will also be a genuine call for change and for our need for a real solution.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
ML: The biggest challenge was working with my partner: we directed and edited the film together, while at the same time living together as a couple and being parents to our two young and sweet children.
This is the third film we have worked on together, and each time we come to realize how very complicated and challenging this is, and on the other hand that this is the greatest gift we could ask for.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
ML: The film was funded through a group of broadcasters. The first to come on board was yesDocu, an Israeli broadcaster, and shortly after ARTE joined — both supported my last Sundance film, “Censored Voices.” We have produced the film as an Israel/Canada co-production and so we were able to receive Grants from both Israel (Rabinovitch and Pais) and Canada (Rogers and Sodec). We also got Canadian broadcasters on board (Radio Canada, Documentary Channel) and a Canadian tax rebate.
Internationally we were awarded some grants like Catapult, who supported us early on. Jenerosity, Creative Europe/Media, and Heartly also came on board. Another big part of the financing of “The Oslo Diaries” was from pre-sales (RTS, VPRO, DR, YLE), which we managed to secure through participating at IDFA, IFP, Munich, and CO-PRO in Israel.
It’s always a puzzle and we keep raising funds as we go, so there are stressful moments, but we also recognize how fortunate we are to have the support of our financiers.
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Sundance?
ML: This is the second time we’ve had a film play at Sundance, and we are enormously excited. Sundance was, without a doubt, our dream for this film. The wide exposure Sundance provides means that people will get to hear our story — a story from an area so typically associated with war — told from a different perspective, that of peace.
In our film we have the chance to tell people that there is a possibility to reach peace and that it all depends on us. At the same time, we cannot afford to rest on the nostalgia of past days, but rather need to understand in the deepest way that there is no future for us without the readiness for real and significant concessions.
In these politically dark times, when the very word “peace” arouses a smirk of pain from the understanding that our government and our people are doing all they can to maintain the status quo of the occupation, a genuine call for change has meaning.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
ML: At the beginning of my career, while still a student at [film school], I told my teacher I planned to make a film on Zionist journeys throughout Israel for Jewish youth from the Diaspora, to show the indoctrination of the young implied in them.
My teacher read through the synopsis and said: “Why get into such big topics that you have no understanding about? Why touch on political films? Make small films about love.” Well, this is the worst advice I’ve ever received in my life.
Best advice: Dare to create the films that are truly burning in you and to believe in yourself.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
ML: The female filmmaker I love best is the Israeli director Ronit Elkabetz, and especially the film trilogy she created with Shlomi Elkabetz: “To Take a Wife,” “Shiva,” and “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem.”
I remember the first time I saw “To Take a Wife.” It had such an unusual feminist voice — one that penetrates your veins. The character of Viviane had me glued to the screen: her resistance, and her struggle in a patriarchal world caught my heart and stayed with me for many years.
When Ronit died two years ago, I cried even though I hadn’t met her in person. Viviane’s character will stay forever in the consciousness of Israeli cinema.
W&H: Hollywood is in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. Many women and some men in the industry are speaking publicly about their experiences being assaulted and harassed. What do you think of the recently announced anti-sexual harassment Commission made up of industry leaders? Do you believe that it will help make systemic change? What do you think needs to be done to address this issue?
ML: This process of transformation going on in Hollywood, and also in Israel, is of great importance. I have hopes to see the world changing and male supremacy — with its exploitation, status, and power — weakened and eventually abolished.
The creation of the anti-sexual harassment Commission is an important step and a long-needed expression of the feminist struggle. I fear the road to the abolition of male supremacy is still long, but actions such as this announcement are steps [towards] our goals. Only by supporting each other in solidarity and standing together can we make a change.
