Cinema
They Were Ten
הם היו עשרה
Baruch Dienar · 1960
Synopsis
At the end of the nineteenth century, under Ottoman rule, ten Jewish pioneers from Russia, nine men and one woman, Mania, settle in Galilee to found a cooperative village. They have to reckon with the Ottoman authorities, with the neighbouring Arab villages, with malaria and the lack of water, and with themselves: each remains an individual, whom communal singing and a Hasidic dance at harvest time do not merge into the group. The pioneers speak Russian among themselves, the Arabs speak Arabic, and the former make an effort to learn the language of the latter.
Context
Dienar wrote the screenplay with Gabriel Dagan and Menahem Shoval; Helga Keller edited the film, which was shot near the moshav Segev with few props, a small cast and a slow camera. It was the first film supported by the fund for the encouragement of Israeli cinema. The premiere took place at the Ha-Bira cinema in Jerusalem on 30 October 1960, in front of President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi and the mayor of the city; three songs from the film, sung by Shimon Israeli, were released on record. Ella Shohat sees in the pioneers' effort to speak Arabic a sign of openness; Nitzan Ben-Shaul, a conflict over the law rather than over resources.
Who it is for
A feature film of one hundred minutes, in Hebrew, viewable with English subtitles. It is better to know that critics readily compare it to the American western.
Prizes and reception
Youth Prize at Cannes; distributed by Fox in twenty-four countries; regarded as one of the most important films of Israeli cinema.