imported>Bearcat: + 2 categories; ± 2 categories using HotCat

2025-05-06T00:24:49Z

+ 2 categories; ± 2 categories using HotCat

New page

{{short description|Israeli-Dutch filmmaker|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Benny Brunner
| native_name = בני ברונר
| native_name_lang = Hebrew
| image = Benny Brunner in Lifta.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| alt =
| caption = Benny Brunner in [[Lifta]] during filming of [[Al-Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948]]
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1954}}
| birth_place = [[Bârlad]], Romania
| nationality = Israeli-Dutch
| other_names =
| citizenship =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = [[filmmaker]]
| years_active =
| employer =
| agent =
| known_for =
| notable_works = [[Al-Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948]], [[The Great Book Robbery]]
| style = [[documentary film]]
| height = 
| television =
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| parents = Clara Brunner (1929-2021); Morris Brunner (1927-1976)
| relatives =
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| signature_size =
| website = 
| footnotes =
}}
'''Benny Brunner''' ({{langx|he|בני ברונר}}; born 1954) is an Israeli-Dutch filmmaker, born in [[Bârlad]], Romania and based in [[Amsterdam]] since 1986.<ref name="Haaretz12">
{{cite news
| work = [[Haaretz]]
| title = Preserving or looting Palestinian books in Jerusalem
| url = http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/preserving-or-looting-palestinian-books-in-jerusalem.premium-1.483352
| last = Aferet
| first = Ofer
| date = 7 Dec 2012
| accessdate = 2012-12-20
}}</ref><ref name="guernica">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/brunner_2_1_11/
| title = Palestine's Great Book Robbery
| last = Aburawa
| first = Arwa
| publisher = [[Guernica Magazine]]
| accessdate = 2012-12-21
| date = 1 Feb 2011
| quote =
}}</ref><ref name="malmo">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.konsthall.malmo.se.oas.funcform.se/o.o.i.s/2657
| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070120070106/http://www.konsthall.malmo.se.oas.funcform.se/o.o.i.s/2657
| archivedate = 2007-01-20
| title = The artists
| publisher = [[Malmö Konsthall]]
| accessdate = 2012-12-21
}}</ref> He studied film at [[Tel Aviv University]].<ref name="malmo"/> Since the late 1980s, Brunner has written, directed and produced films about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict<ref name="Haaretz12"/> including ''The Concrete Curtain'', ''It Is No Dream'', ''[[Al-Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948|Al-Nakba]]'' and ''The Great Book Robbery'', films about Jewish history like ''The Seventh Million'',<ref name="SFJFF7M">{{cite web
| title = The Seventh Million
| publisher = San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
| url = http://www.sfjff.org/film/detail?id=258
| accessdate = Jan 28, 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110914175501/http://www.sfjff.org/film/detail?id=258
| archive-date = September 14, 2011
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> and films concerning the modern history of the Middle East.<ref name="UCBerkeley">
{{cite web
|title=Middle East and North Africa
|publisher=[[University of California, Berkeley]]
|url=http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/VideoTest/MidEastVid.html
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130217084734/http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/VideoTest/MidEastVid.html
|url-status = dead
|archive-date=February 17, 2013
|accessdate=Jan 28, 2013
}}</ref> He describes himself as "a veteran leftist"<ref name="Haaretz12"/> and his political films take the side of the '[[Other (philosophy)|other]]'.<ref name="GingerFoot"/> Brunner has worked in the [[Middle East]], [[Europe]], [[South Africa]], and the [[United States]].<ref name="malmo"/> In addition to winning a special commendation by the [[Prix Europa]] for ''A Philosopher for All Seasons'' in 1991,<ref name="PrixEuropa">
{{cite web |title=PRIX EUROPA 1991 - AWARDS |url=http://www.prix-europa.de/fileadmin/user_upload/ARCHIV/Awards/ARCHIVE1991.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308072403/http://www.prix-europa.de/fileadmin/user_upload/ARCHIV/Awards/ARCHIVE1991.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-08 |accessdate=Jan 28, 2013 |publisher=[[Prix Europa]]}}</ref> his films have been screened at the [[San Francisco Jewish Film Festival]], the [[International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam]], the [[Jerusalem Film Festival]], the [[San Diego Jewish Film Festival]], and numerous international, human rights and Jewish film festivals.<ref name="GingerFoot"/>

==Early life==
Born in [[Romania]], Benny Brunner immigrated to [[Israel]] at age five. According to ''[[Guernica Magazine]]'', Brunner's early memories include political shouting matches between his father and uncle. He was raised by [[socialist]] parents who supported [[David Ben-Gurion]], the first [[Prime Minister of Israel]]. While in [[Beer Sheva]], he was a [[Israeli Labor Party|Labour]] supporter.<ref name="guernica"/> The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival has stated that Brunner's mother, Clara, wanted him to study law, but he was 'too smart for his own good', and thought that being a filmmaker would be lucrative and provide him an opportunity to travel.<ref name="SFJFFbio">{{cite web
| title = Biography
| publisher = San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
| url = http://www.sfjff.org/film/biography?id=258&last=Brunner&first=Benny&role=Director
| accessdate = 2012-01-28
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110914154954/http://www.sfjff.org/film/biography?id=258&last=Brunner&first=Benny&role=Director
| archive-date = 2011-09-14
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> Brunner studied film at [[Tel Aviv University]] at the Ramat Aviv campus in the Katz Faculty of the Arts' Department of Film and Television.<ref name="malmo"/> Brunner served in the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] and is a veteran of the [[Yom Kippur War]], during which he began to view the [[1948 Palestinian exodus#Israeli narrative|Israeli narrative]] he had learned in [[Education in Israel|school]] as "legends of [[Nation-building|nation building]]." The change in his view of [[Zionism]] was at first difficult for his family to accept.<ref name="guernica"/>

==Career==
Brunner left Israel in 1986 for an opportunity to make political films. He briefly stayed in [[London]] where he did freelance work during the [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] era. Brunner moved to the Netherlands later that year.<ref name="guernica"/>

===''A Philosopher for All Seasons'' (1990)===
Brunner's most significant early work is a tribute to then-living [[Yeshayahu Leibowitz]]. It explores in particular the impact of Leibowitz's answer to the question of how one may determine who is Jewish.<ref name="Gans">
{{cite book
| title = Gojse nijd & joods narcisme
| author = Gans, Evelien
| url = http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/gans007gojs01_01/gans007gojs01_01.pdf
| year = 1994
| pages = 62, 69
| publisher = Uitgeverij Arena
| isbn = 9789069741178
| accessdate = 2013-01-28
| quote = A Philosopher for all seasons, een film van Benny Brunner over de filosoof Yeshayahu Leibowitz, op 26 mei 1991 uitgezonden door de Humanistische Omroep Stichting, die ook een brochure maakte van de integrale tekst. Leibowitz overleed in augustus 1994 op eenennegentigjarige leeftijd.
}}</ref> The film won a Taurus trophy for special commendation in Non-Fiction at the Prix Europa in 1991.<ref name="PrixEuropa"/>

===''The Seventh Million'' (1995)===
Based on historian [[Tom Segev|Tom Segev's]] book of the same name, ''The Seventh Million'' explores the dilemma of [[The Holocaust|Shoah]] survivors in finding a place in the newly established State of Israel. The film was initially considered too controversial to be aired on Israeli state television.<ref name="IDFFA7M">{{cite web
| title = The Seventh Million - The Israelis and the Holocaust
| publisher = [[International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam]]
| url = http://www.idfa.nl/industry/tags/project.aspx?id=1307365e-e925-45ee-97fb-6bd77649ccc8
| accessdate = 28 Jan 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160311171448/https://www.idfa.nl/industry/tags/project.aspx?id=1307365e-e925-45ee-97fb-6bd77649ccc8
| archive-date = 11 March 2016
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> Brunner collaborated with the historian to find images to accompany the text.<ref name="NYT26071995">
{{cite news
| author = Dupont, Joan
| title = Film Takes on Israeli Taboo
| work = [[The New York Times]]
| date = 26 Jul 1995
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/26/style/26iht-tom.t.html
| accessdate = 28 Jan 2013
}}</ref> He researched archives and propaganda footage.<ref name="NYT26071995"/> In reaction to [[Steven Spielberg|Steven Spielberg's]] ''[[Schindler's List]]'', Brunner resolved to make a movie which was descriptive rather than dramatic.<ref name="NYT26071995"/> The film shows how Holocaust survivors reacted to their treatment in Israeli society by hiding tattoos received in [[Nazi concentration camps]] and responding with depression and resentment.<ref name="NYT26071995"/> The title and narrative are meant to portray the lasting effects of the Holocaust on modern Israeli life.<ref name="NYT26071995"/>

===''Al-Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948'' (1996)===
[[File:Benny Brunner and Benny Morris.jpg|thumb|right|Benny Brunner and historian [[Benny Morris]] during filming of ''Al-Nakba'']]
Brunner describes a "watershed moment" he experienced in 1988 after reading ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949'' by [[Benny Morris]], whereupon he envisioned making the book into a film. This was the impetus for his conception of ''[[Al-Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948]]'',<ref name="guernica"/> the first documentary film to examine the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians during the birth of the state of Israel.<ref name="SFJFF48">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.sfjff.org/film/detail?id=797
|publisher=[[San Francisco Jewish Film Festival]]
|title=Al-Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe of 1948
|accessdate=2012-12-21
|quote=AL-NAKBA is the first documentary to examine the tragedy that accompanied the birth of the state of Israel in 1948 - the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians.
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110914133108/http://www.sfjff.org/film/detail?id=797
|archivedate=2011-09-14
}}</ref> Brunner toured with ''Al-Nakba'' to discuss the subject with audiences in Israel and San Francisco.<ref name="Jweekly">{{cite news
| publisher = [[Jweekly]]
| author = Joshua Schuster
| title = Commentary: 'Al-Nakba' screening inspires fiery political exchange
| date = 31 Jul 1998
| url = http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/8760/commentary-al-nakba-screening-inspires-fiery-political-exchange/
| accessdate = 2012-12-06
| quote = So after the film, the two directors, Jansse from Amsterdam and Benny Brunner, a Jew raised in Israel, along with [[David Biale]], a professor of Jewish history at the Graduate Theological Union, answered questions for 45 minutes.
}}</ref>

===''The Concrete Curtain'' (2004)===
The film follows his own film ''The Wall'' (2003) as further documentation of the [[West Bank wall]] and the difficulties imposed upon Palestinians. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' noted the film for its [[Kafkaesque]] absurdism and dark humor.<ref name="Variety">
{{cite magazine
| title = The Concrete Curtain
| magazine = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]
| url = https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117928505/?refCatId=31
| author = Harvey, Dennis
| accessdate = 2013-01-28
| date = 2005-10-12
}}</ref>

===''The Great Book Robbery'' (2011)===
While shooting ''State of Suspension'' in 2008, Brunner stated that he read ''Salvage or Plunder? Israel's "Collection" of Private Palestinian Libraries in West Jerusalem'' by Gish Amit. He was "stunned" at the appropriation of 70,000 books by the State of Israel during the [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight]] as significant to the loss of Palestinian cultural heritage and decided to make a film on the topic.<ref name="guernica"/> About 6,000 of these books continue to be held today at [[National Library of Israel]] where they are labeled as "Abandoned Property".<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100718103252/http://thegreatbookrobbery.org/background The Great Book Robbery: Background]}}</ref>

==Views==
Brunner self-describes as a former Zionist<ref name="Economist20130121">
{{cite news
| newspaper = [[The Economist]]
| title = Looting Books from Palestinian Libraries: Dark stories
| date = 2013-01-21
| url = https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2013/01/looting-books-palestinian-libraries
| accessdate = 2013-02-03
}}</ref> who sympathizes with the [[Palestinian people]].<ref name="guernica"/> According to ''Guernica'', Israeli Cabinet Minister [[Uzi Landau]] accused him of "being part of an Israeli left fanning the flames of '[[anti-semitism|Jew-hatred]]' in Europe."<ref name="guernica"/> [[Björn Jensen|Ginger Foot Films]] has stated that Brunner "does not believe in neutrality, balance or objectivity in documentary filmmaking, especially when state power is used to dominate the occupied, underprivileged, or the '[[Other (philosophy)|other]]'."<ref name="GingerFoot">
{{cite web
|title=Biography Benny Brunner
|publisher=[[Björn Jensen|Ginger Foot Films]]
|url=http://www.gingerfoot.de/Bio_Benny_Brunner_dt.htm
|accessdate=2012-12-21
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518141555/http://www.gingerfoot.de/Bio_Benny_Brunner_dt.htm
|archivedate=2011-05-18
}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Brunner still visits the Middle East two to three times a year. ''Guernica'' said his visits are a source of creative inspiration.<ref name="guernica"/>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" width="33" | Release Year !! rowspan="2" | Film !! colspan="4" | Credits !! rowspan="2" width=65 | Reference
|-
! width=65 | [[Film director|Director]] !! width=65 | [[Screenwriter|Writer]] !! width=65 | [[Film producer|Producer]] !! width=65 | Other
|-
| 1990 || style="text-align:left;" | ''Romania, The Taming of the Intellectuals'' || {{yes}} || || || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 1991 || style="text-align:left;" | ''A Philosopher For All Seasons'' || {{yes}} || || || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 1992 || style="text-align:left;" | ''Cauchemar'' || {{yes}} || || || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 1995 || style="text-align:left;" | ''The Seventh Million'' || {{yes}} || || {{yes}} || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 1996 || style="text-align:left;" | ''The Avengers'' || {{yes}} || || || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 1997 || style="text-align:left;" | ''[[Al-Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948|Al-Nakba]]'' || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || || <ref name="guernica"/><ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 2000 || style="text-align:left;" | ''Blood Money'' || {{yes}} || || {{yes}} || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 2001 || style="text-align:left;" | ''Kosher Friendly'' || {{yes}} || || {{yes}} || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 2002 || style="text-align:left;" | ''It is No Dream'' || {{yes}} || || {{yes}} || || <ref name="guernica"/><ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 2002 || style="text-align:left;" | ''The Children of Abraham and Sophie'' || {{yes}} || || {{yes}} || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 2003 || style="text-align:left;" | ''The Lobby'' || {{yes}} || || || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 2003 || style="text-align:left;" | ''The Wall'' || {{yes}} || || {{yes}} || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 2005 || style="text-align:left;" | ''The Concrete Curtain'' || {{yes}} || || {{yes}} || || <ref name="GingerFoot"/>
|-
| 2009 || style="text-align:left;" | ''State of Suspension'' || {{yes}} || || || [[Director of Photography|DP]] || <ref name="guernica"/><ref>{{cite web
| title = ''State of Suspension''
| url = http://www.citwf.com/film438476.htm
| publisher = Complete Index to World Film
| accessdate = 2012-12-21
}}</ref>
|-
| 2012 || style="text-align:left;" | ''The Great Book Robbery'' || {{yes}} || || || || <ref name="guernica"/>
|-
| 2014 || style="text-align:left;" | ''The Érpatak Model'' || {{yes}} || || {{yes}} ||DP||
|-
| 2015 || style="text-align:left;" | ''The Hannibal Directive'' || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || ||
|}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Benny Brunner}}
*{{imdb name|0116356}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170214113001/https://bbrunner.eu/ Benny Brunner's website]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunner, Benny}}
[[Category:Dutch documentary film directors]]
[[Category:Israeli documentary film directors]]
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Romanian Jews]]
[[Category:Dutch Jews]]
[[Category:Israeli Jews]]
[[Category:Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Romanian emigrants to Israel]]
[[Category:People from Bârlad]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Tel Aviv University alumni]]
[[Category:Dutch documentary film producers]]
[[Category:Israeli documentary film producers]]

Benny Brunner - Revision history

imported>Bearcat: + 2 categories; ± 2 categories using HotCat