PRIVATE
Dir: Saverio Costanzo (Italy 2004 90 minutes CLUB
)
Cast: Lior Miller, Tomer Russo, Mohammad Bakri, Arin Omary, Hend Ayoub
There have been very few films that have attempted to bring the reality of the
Israeli- Palestinian conflict into sharp focus. Private - Winner of the Golden
Leopard for Best Film at the 2004 Locarno Film Festival - and directed by the
Italian Saverio Costanzo, ventures into the minefield of this conflict in an
attempt to convey one particular part of the struggle. It does so admirably,
although some would say not impartially.
Costanzo has chosen to look at the war through the eyes of one Palestinian
household – a well-educated, middle-class family. The family members are totally
divided about what they should or should not do. Understandably worried about
the safety of her sons and daughters, mother Samia wants to leave. Her husband,
Mohammed, feels quite differently, insisting that they stay in their house and
deal with the situation as it develops. Soon, their domestic arguments give way
to a harsher reality when a group of Israeli soldiers enters the home
unannounced and occupies it as an observation post, effectively turning its
owners into prisoners.
Private is uncompromising in its realistic depiction of its chosen subject.
Costanzo chillingly portrays the quotidian tensions that underlie this struggle,
reducing it to something we can all relate to: a family, a house and its
invasion by strangers. As the two parties get to know each other and come to an
uneasy equilibrium, we begin to hope that some kind of understanding will
follow. However, Costanzo provides no easy outs. The absence of simple solutions
makes Private completely heartbreaking. - Piers Handling, Toronto International
Film Festival
Saverio Costanzo (born Rome) studied media at the Università La Sapienza. He
wrote the short film Il Numero (97) and the television movie Una Famiglia per
caso (97), before making his directorial debut with the documentary Caffe Mille
Luci, Brooklyn, New York (99). He followed this with the award-winning docudrama
Sala rossa (01). Private (04) is his first feature-length narrative film.
“Demands to be seen, film of the month” - GQ
“Powerful” - ID
“Excellent” - Empire
Winner - Best Emerging Director / Nastri d’Argento
Winner - Golden Leopard Prize (Best Film), Best Actor (Mohammad Bakri) / Locarno
Film Festival
Winner - Best New Director / David di Donatello Award
Winner - FIPRESCI Prize / San Francisco International Film Festival 2005