GENTRIFICTION

GENTRIFICTION

Naor Elimelech | Israel 2007 | 28 Min. | OmeU

GentriFiction is interested in how architectural destruction and reconstruction are aligned with memory, identity and sense-of-self. It explores the subtle ethnic understatements of the gentrification process currently taking place throughout the city of Jaffa in Israel. Located just moments away from the predominantly Jewish Tel-Aviv, Jaffa has historically offered an ethnic enclave for Arab citizens of Israel. Such location has long been targeted by Jewish entrepreneurs and the local municipalities. Walking through the streets of the Ajami neighbourhood, Abu-George, a local Jaffan, brings back to life memories stashed deep under the surface and questions the local ‘development’ of the once socially deprived neighbourhood.

This film was produced as the final project for an MA in visual Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London. It reflects my determination as an Israeli-Jew to fight the constant discursive and physical erosion of past subjectivities from above the contemporary Israeli surface as a critical instrument for Arab-Jew dialog in Israel.