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By Emily Forster

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The state of Israel began with a war between those who felt deceived and betrayed by their own leaders against those who felt relieved and connected to their true destiny. Since its inception Israel has remained a land of unrest and turmoil, and no one has documented the last 20 years of its tumultuous past better than filmmaker Amos Gitai.

"Since the '70s, after the Yom Kippur War, Amos has shown what life is like in Israel," explains Mischa Livingstone, an undergraduate UCLA film student from Israel who came up with the idea for an Amos Gitai film series. "Amos's work has been shown all over the world and I thought it would be interesting for UCLA to see some of his work," he says.

On each night of the series, Gitai will address the audiences and answer their questions about his films and about Israel in general. He was shot down by Syrian forces during the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and has used his camera since then as a way to provide information for the world about Israel's issues. But he also speaks to groups like the ones gathering for the film series in order to teach people about his experiences.

Livingstone realizes that UCLA students are familiar with Israeli issues from local and national newspapers and news stations, but he feels that Amos's work provides a unique perspective on older issues. He looks at these issues not as an American reporter, but as an Israeli citizen.

"The media gives a certain view about what is going on in Israel," Livingstone says. "There are other beliefs and other approaches to the politics of the country and Amos provides his own. I think it will be an eye-opener for students to see his work."

But Gitai does not present his opinion as the only one. He simply offers his perspectives among several others. His films are not statements, but questions that the audience has to answer on its own.

"It is a thinking man's cinema," Livingstone explains. "He doesn't spoon-feed you with ideas. He presents a multitude of questions and you provide the answers."

Students will be challenged with Gitai's works beginning this Wednesday night in Melnitz Theater. The series contains eight films spread over four nights.

On the first night, a reception will begin at 6:30, followed by a 7:30 screening of his most recent film, "Arena of Murder." This film explores the trauma surrounding the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on Nov. 4, 1995 after his attendance to a peace rally in Tel Aviv. "Arena of Murder" is the first film based on the subject and features Leah Rabin, Rabin's wife, and Israeli rock star Aviv Gefen.

The second film of the night will be a documentary about local people and their changing opinions. Entitled "Wadi 1981-1991," this film focuses on interviews with both North African and Eastern European Jewish families and Arab families residing in Wadi, an abandoned British quarry near Haifa. It reveals how these people's social relations have changed during their existence in the ethnically and religiously diverse community.

On Thursday evening at 7:30, the film festival will feature "Devarim," a cinematic adaptation of Yaakov Shabati's modern story "Zichron Devarim." This film shows how three different generations of Israelis feel about their country and themselves.

After "Devarim," the portrait of post-Soviet Russia "The Petrified Garden," will screen. This film follows an art dealer's trip to the Ukraine and his discoveries.

The third night of the festival, beginning at 7:30, will show Gitai's "Berlin-Jerusalem," a film that follows the experiences of a man and a woman in Israel. The man is a Zionist from Russia and the woman is a poet, Else Lasker-Schüler, from Germany. Both travelers arrive in Palestine in the 1930s and their impressions provide the backbone of the movie.

Following "Berlin-Jerusalem" is "Esther," Gitai's first fiction feature. It tells the biblical tale of Esther from the fifth century B.C.E. and it also provides a comparison for Jews and Arabs in contemporary society.

The last night of the festival, beginning at 7:00, will start off with "Golem -- the Spirit of Exile." This film provides the myth of the Golem, a mythical protector of Jews in exile, with a foundation in the biblical story of Ruth. This film focuses on the uprooting of people from their homelands and it mirrors the modern Jewish Diaspora.

After this film, Melnitz will screen "Brand New Day," a Gitai documentary that follows the Eurythmics' Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart on the Japan segment of their 1987 world tour. The film focuses on the philosophical and musical movements of modern times.

FILM: Tickets available one hour before showtime at the Melnitz Theater box office. Tickets are $4 for students and seniors and $6 for general admission. On-campus parking is available for $5 in Lot 3. For more information and an updated schedule call (310) 206-FILM or for general UCLA entertainment information call (310) UCLA-ART.