Eyal Sivan () is an Israeli documentary filmmaker, theoretician and scholar based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France.

Early life

Eyal Sivan is a

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and theoretician born in 1964 in

Haifa, Israel Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel. It is home to t ...

; raised in Jerusalem; and based in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

since 1985. As a teenager, Sivan abandoned formal education to dedicate himself to his hobbies, which were photography and political activism.

Career

After working as a professional commercial photographer in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, he left Israel in 1985 and settled in Paris. He now splits his time between Europe and Israel. Known for his controversial films, Sivan has produced and directed more than a dozen political documentaries. ''Common State'' (2012), ''Jaffa'' (2009) and ''Route 181'' (2003) won awards at various festivals. Sivan's films are regularly exhibited in art exhibitions including

Documenta Documenta (often stylized documenta) is an Art exhibition, exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgarte ...

Manifesta Manifesta, also known as the European Nomadic Biennial, is a European pan-regional contemporary cultural biennale. History Manifesta was founded in 1994 by Dutch art historian Hedwig Fijen. The first edition took place in Rotterdam. One of t ...

and ICP New York. His work touches on such themes as the representation of political crime; the political use of memory; the ethics of documentary filmmaking; and the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israelis (; ) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jews and Arabs, who respectively account for 75 percent and 20 percent of the national figure, followed by other ethnic and ...

. He is the founder and artistic director of the Paris-based documentary film company Momento ! and of the film distribution agency Scalpel. He created ''South Cinema Notebooks'', a journal of cinema criticism published by the Sapir Academic College in

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

. In response to a question by ''Aljazeera'' as to why so many "progressive and anti-Zionist academics, activists, and artists" are fleeing Israel, Sivan responded: "The veil of democracy is being ripped from Israeli faces."

Academic postings

*Professor,

Amsterdam University of the Arts The Amsterdam University of the Arts () is a Dutch institute for higher professional education located in Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Ki ...

, Nederlands Film Academy, Nederlands *Associate Professor, Media Production,

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

, School of Arts and Digital Industries,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

*Honorary Fellow, European Centre for Palestinian Studies,

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

, United Kingdom *Visiting professor,

Netherlands Film Academy The Netherlands Film Academy () (NFA) was founded in 1958. The academy is the only recognised institute in the Netherlands that offers training to prepare for the work in the various crew disciplines. Specialisation is possible in fiction direc ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, The

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

*Visiting professor,

Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti The Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, "New Academy of Fine Arts", also known as NABA, is a private academy of fine art in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It has approximately 3000 students, some of whom are from abroad; it participates in t ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

*Visiting professor,

Sapir Academic College Sapir College (, ''HaMikhlela HaAkademit Sapir'') is a college in Israel, located in the northwestern Negev desert near Sderot Sderot (, , ; , sometimes Romanized as "Sederot") is a western Negev city and former development town in the South ...

, School of Sound and Visual Arts,

, Israel

Filmography

* 2012 ''Common State, Potential Conversation '' * 2009 ''Jaffa, the Orange's Clockwork'' * 2007 ''Citizens K, the Twin Brothers'' * 2005 ''Faces of the Fallen'' * 2004 ''I Love You All / Aus Liebe Zum Volk'' (co-directed with Audrey Maurion) * 2003 ''Route 181, Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel'' (co-directed with

Michel Khleifi Michel Khleifi (), born in 1950 in Nazareth, is a Palestinian ( 48-Palestinian) film writer, director and producer, presently based in Belgium. Khleifi emigrated to Belgium in 1970, where he studied television and theatre directing at the '' Inst ...

) * 2001 ''On the Top of the Descent'' * 1999 ''The Specialist, Portrait of a Modern Criminal'' * 1997 ''Burundi, under Terror'' * 1996 ''Itsembatsemba, Rwanda One Genocide Later'' * 1995 ''Aqabat-Jaber, Peace with no Return?'' * 1994 ''Jerusalem(s), Borderline Syndrome'' * 1993 ''Itgaber, He Will Overcome – Conversations with Yeshayahou Lebowitz'' * 1991 ''Israland'' * 1990 ''Izkor, Slaves of Memory'' * 1987 ''Aqabat-Jaber, Passing Through''

Other visual works

* 2012 ''Towards a common archive, testimonies of Zionist veterans of 1948. Multi screens video show.'' * 2012 ''Montage Interdit.

Berlin Documentary Forum The Berlin Documentary Forum (BDF) was a biennale held at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. Interdisciplinary in orientation, it engaged with the 'documentary’ across the fields of film, photography, contemporary art, performance, arch ...

2 New practices across disciplines. Haus der Kulturen der Welt ww.hkw.de' * 2010 ''Documentary moments 1 : Renaissance. Berlin Documentary Forum 1 New practices across disciplines. Haus der Kulturen der Welt'' * 2009 ''Fragmented memory of spectatorship. Top 10 documentary programme IDFA Amsterdam '' * 2008 ''Happy birthdays, towards a common archive – fragment 1. Multi screens video Installation'' * 2001 ''Scalpel / Skalpel. (concept & artistic director) TV magazine for ARTE'' * 1994 ''Jerusalem, Jerusalems. Conception and direction of a Theme evening for ARTE'' * 1988 ''Progressive list for Peace. TV spots''

References

External links

* * Eyal Sivan on culture bas
www.culturbase.net
*The Barber Trial: Sivan vs. Finkielkraut Cabinet Magazine Thomas Keenan and Eyal Weizma
www.cabinetmagazine.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sivan, Eyal 1964 births Living people Israeli documentary film directors Mass media people from Haifa