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Life in Stills
Life in Stills
Tamar Tal / Israel / 2011 / 58 min.
She is stubborn, combative and complicated, but also can be charming and funny. Miriam Weissenstein, 96, is only four years younger than the city of Tel Aviv, where she has lived since departing Czechoslovakia in 1921. Through his extraordinary photographs, her husband, Rudi, captured life in Tel Aviv and its transformations. Even after his death, Miriam still works in their photography studio, which she runs with her grandson Ben. Rudi’s “Photo House” is part of the cultural heritage of the city and state. Regardless, it is slated to fall foul of a developer’s plans. “The mayor wants to demolish my shop,” she tells a crowd of visitors who have come to buy photographs on the occasion of the city’s 100th anniversary. “Please sign a petition urging him to retire.” With the help of his partner, Ben sends his grandfather’s art to exhibitions in Europe and fights a battle with city hall on behalf of his nonagenarian grandmother. Despite sometimes fighting with the petulant Miriam herself, Ben strives to close the schism borne of a family tragedy. This extraordinarily compelling film about memory and forgiveness benefits most from the humorous verbal exchanges between grandmother and grandson.