“Of Dogs and Men”, interview with director Dani Rosenberg

At the 81th Venice Film Festival, Fred Film Radio interviewed Dani Rosenberg, director of “Of Dogs and Men”, a movie set in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.

Fast and effective

“Of Dogs and Men” is the photograph of a specific historical moment. How did Dani Rosenberg manage to talk about it while trying to remain neutral as much as possible? “For me it was important to go to the site, this war zone, as soon as possible, to try to describe reality as it unfolds. And for doing so, we were a very small group, just cinematographer, sound, a producer and an actor. That’s it for the beginning. I didn’t write a script, I just had a basic structure. The people we met there became part of this journey. I felt that was maybe the only way to do it. Fast and effective”.

The horror of the bombing of Gaza

Dani Rosenberg filmed “Of Dogs and Men”along the Gaza border. The audience can see the bombs hitting the city day and night. How does it feel to be there in those moments and be aware of what’s happening? “Horrible. I know now this region is hell on earth. So to be there in the kibbutz and watching from the other side, it’s to be in a continuous crime scene. Sometimes we shot and we just said: ‘Okay, we cannot shoot anymore, it’s just too much to be now in this place and shoot’. We have to respect this place because people were dying, people were massacred, people were kidnapped. People are dying in mass. It was horrible, but it was also for us the mission to describe it and to present it”.

The use of Telegram

Dar, the main character, watches videos on Telegram about the attack and what happens in Gaza. For Dani Rosenberg, as a director, what does it mean to use these kind of videos to tell a story? “I felt that the first shot of Telegram was a shot that I shot ten times in different angles. Because I want to describe something more. It’s not just what is happening, but also the way we are looking on what is happening. Because this kind of element that we are just scrolling, the flow of images can also block our conscience, block our heart, because it’s too much. So I also want to talk about that. You want to understand reality, but it is just too much for your soul, so you lock yourself”.

The petition

What does Dani Rosenberg hope people will take from “Of Dogs and Men” ? Especially after the petition from a group of directors who opposed the presence of his film at the festival. “For me it was disappointing to see filmmakers react to a film that they didn’t see. But after saying that, I have to say that I wish that this war will end soon. I wish that this war will end and the hostages will be released. And I feel that in the end of the day, the people that made this petition also want the war to end. So we share the same perspective. I just don’t agree with their decision to make it, but in the end of the day, we are the same group that wants the war to end”.

Plot