Course information
In June 1942, deep into the war, at a time when the systematic persecution of Jews in Amsterdam had already escalated into a brutal, all‐encompassing reality, Etty Hillesum wrote in her diary: “They can’t do anything to us, they really can’t. They can harass us, they can rob us of our material goods, of our freedom of movement, but we ourselves forfeit our greatest assets by our misguided compliance. By our feelings of being persecuted, humiliated, and oppressed. By our own hatred. By our swagger, which hides our fear. We may of course be sad and depressed by what has been done to us; that is only human and understandable. However: our greatest injury is one we inflict upon ourselves. I find life beautiful, and I feel free. The sky within me is as wide as the one stretching above my head.” In this workshop we will explore and debate writing as a form of resilience, from the writings of Etty Hillesum into our own writing.
About the Teacher
Eyal Davidovitch is a multidisciplinary artist working in various film projects as director, editor, cameraman, director and writer, as well as in visual projects, graphic design, prose writing, music, podcasts, educational, and social-cultural projects. His short story “Osmosis” is the first-prize winner of the prestigious Haaretz national short story competition of 2015, and he has worked on various prize-winning short films. His debut documentary feature film (co-direction) “The Young Kadyas” toured festivals and appeared in German cinema in the fall of 2022, and his documentary “I Weld You A Color” premiered in the Biberacher Film Festival 2023. Among his recent projects is his debut podcast “I Think I Saw You (Right When you Disappeared),” released this year. Eyal studied at Sam Spiegel Film School, Jerusalem and in the Marc Rich Multidisciplinary Honors Program for Humanities and Arts, Tel Aviv University. He is currently creating and dreaming in Berlin.