Out of Focus

Director & Screenwriter: TOMER HEYMANN
Producers: AMI AMIR, NAAMA PYRITZ, ANAT ZELTZER
Editing: LAVI BEN-GAL
Cinematography: ITAI RAZIEL
Sound designer:  RONEN NAGEL
Colourist: YOAV RAZ
Original Score: ERAN WEITZ
Research: SHANY LITTMAN

Ohad Naharin is Israel’s “rock star” choreographer, and artistic director of Batsheva Dance Company. He specializes in getting world-class dancers to move from their guts—not the mirror—by teaching them what he playfully calls “Gaga” his unique language of movement. In this dynamic close-up documentary, veteran Israeli filmmaker Tomer Heymann renders a candid portrait of the movement and the man through an in-depth look at Naharin’s rehearsal process with Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet of New York City.

Heymann masterfully elicits a series of “Notes on Dance” from his subject, climaxing in a denouement reminiscent of My Dinner with André in leotards and tights. See some of the world’s greatest dancers let go of everything they know as they strive to fulfill Naharin’s vision, and their own deepest desires.

Festivals

Haifa International Film Festival, Israel

San Francisco Jewish film festival, USA

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, USA

Dimonana Dance Festival, Israel

Montpellier Danse, France

TIFF Cinematheque, Canada

Mercat de les Flors Barcelona, Spain

Copenhagen Jewish Film Festival, Denmark

Ohad Naharin Retrospective, Russia