I was Gilady is a young Israeli director who in this 38th edition of the International Film Festival in Guadalajara (FICG38) -which takes place in the city of 2 to 9 June– arrives with his second fiction feature film, “In bed” (“In bed”, 2022)to participate in competition for the Maguey Award; the drama takes place Tel Aviv and reflects some pressing issues that, says the director, “should be discussed” within the community LGBTTTIQ+.
As for the story, the film follows Guy and his best friend Joy, who are enjoying the gay pride parade to the fullest, when everything is abruptly interrupted by a deadly shooting. Fleeing the scene to the safety of Guy’s house, they are greeted by a fellow parader, Dan, who appears in shock. With the shooter still on the run, they plunge into a night filled with sex, drugs and paranoia.
A massacre and a serious problem
In this sense, the film’s director and screenwriter, Nitzan Gilady, reports that the project had its origin, first, in “a hate crime that occurred in Tel Aviv in 2009, a shooting that resulted in two deaths and at least fifteen injuries; It happened in a place known as “Youth Bar” and that it functioned as a branch of the Israeli LGBT Association. The incredible thing was that whoever shot, at first, was believed to belong to the community and to this day they have not found him.”
Thus, the first impulse for the director was to make a documentary –which is what he was doing, in essence– “but there was not enough information; but on the other hand, I also thought about the idea of taking someone to bed and not knowing at all who it is. That was a point, but also the fact that a lot of people use drugs and become addicted, and these are people who even have respectable jobs.”
Something to talk about
Gilady’s own experience with drugs, which occurred after the age of 35, It was not something easy or pleasant, and it allowed him to realize that, at least the use of substances such as Crystal Meth, is about “a problem for many young people, something that is difficult to get rid of and whose use is not exclusive to the LGBTTTIQ+ community but is widespread”.
Now, among what is sought when consuming drugs is precisely to increase sexual pleasure, says the director, “and we must talk about that, because sex is liberating, it makes us feel good and feel that we are ourselves. These elements were the ones that intervened in the writing of the script, but it was a long period of work, initially the protagonist was a witness to the massacre, but the script went through many phases, there was a lot of research and a lot of feedback from those who saw the film , who not only perceived it as a warning sign, but also as something that needs to be talked about”.
A challenging experience
“In bed”Thus, it premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, last November, the same month that he went to the Tel Aviv International LGBTQ Festival; with everything, Gilady admits that “it was not going to be an easy film to digest, or a mirror in which many wanted to see themselves reflected; Even for the LGBTQ community, it’s a complicated issue, but it’s very important, because we know people who have lost their job due to drugs, were confined to a mental institution, or died of an overdose. And what happens is that we don’t do enough”.
Now at FICG, in competition, the film is being shown this Wednesday June 7 at 2:30 p.m.in the Room 2 of the Cineteca FICG (with one more performance on Thursday the 8th, in Room 2 of Cinemex Sania), and the Israeli director highlights that, in his country, at first “I thought that because of the themes that are dealt with they were going to reject the film, but far from that , many liked and supported the film. It was amazing”.
For his time at FICG38, he has no expectations, but the director does not rule out that his film is “A challenging experience, but I hope they have the willingness and openness to see a movie like this.”
“IN BED” (“Keilu ein mahar”/ “In bed”, 2022)/ Movie
Direction and screenplay: Nitzan Gilady Music and photography: Offer Nissim Cast: Israel Ogalbo/ Dean Miroshnikov/ Moran Rosenblatt/ Tom Baum/ Dalia Beger
I was Gilady
He is a graduate of the Academy of Arts Circle in the Square (New York). He is a director, producer and screenwriter of the documentaries “Jerusalem is Proud to Present”, “Family Time”, “In Satmar Custody” y “The Last Enemy”. In 2015, his first feature film, “Wedding Doll”premiered in the Toronto International Film Festival and won several awards. “In bed” It is his second fiction feature film.
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