News & Events
November 2008
Filmmaker Shares HBO Experience with DI Students
Over the years, DI students have benefitted from the expertise of many award-winning visiting filmmakers, but Hilla Medalia’s recent visit provided students with the unique opportunity to hear about the process of taking a film from student creative thesis project to HBO broadcast.
The film, To Die in Jerusalem, looks at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of two mothers who lost their daughters in one deadly act of violence. The documentary follows the efforts of the mother of Rachel Levy, a 17-year-old Israeli student killed in a Jerusalem market bombing, to speak with the mother of Rachel’s killer, 18-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber Ayat al-Akhras. The Emmy-nominated film aired on HBO in 2007. Medalia shared with students the four-year process of shooting and editing this film and the experience of negotiating broadcast and distribution rights with HBO.
In addition to screening To Die in Jerusalem, Medalia also listened to the second-year students pitch their creative thesis projects and offered valuable advice on storytelling, character development and potential distribution avenues.
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