To Die In Jerusalem: Director’s Statement and Bio

To Die in Jerusalem, directed by Hilla Medalia, premieres on HBO November 1 at 9 p.m., with an encore on November 14 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. See information on other showings and full schedule here.

Director’s Statement:

While working on my master’s degree in film and television at Southern Illinois University, I read a newspaper article about a bombing in Jerusalem. Shortly thereafter, I saw an article in Newsweek about the event, with a close-up photograph of the two girls on the cover. I couldn’t stop looking at them! The more I read, the more I realized that this tragic story ironically represents everything I feel regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As I started to learn more about the girls, it struck me that in a different time and place, they might have been best friends or even sisters who were simply out shopping together. Faith, or fate, brought each of them to the end of her life in such a tragic manner!

I tried to put myself in Ayat’s place. I tried to understand what would lead a beautiful girl just starting her life and with plans for the future, to wake up one morning, take a bag of explosives and put an end to her life—and in the process, end the lives of others.

I contacted the mothers of the girls—Avigail Levy and Um Samir al-Akhras—and found them to be two wonderful women, each struggling to cope with her daughter’s death. They opened their hearts and shared their pain with me. This is where the real challenge began: could I help close the gap between them or would cultural differences and hate ultimately stand in the way of reconciliation? Are their lives permanently unbridgeable in light of pictures/posters praising the young Palestinian’s actions and her parents’ hesitant pride as a result?

Director’s Bio:

Hilla Medalia, director and producer, was born in 1977 in a suburb of Tel Aviv, Israel. After graduating from high school, she joined the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). After military service, she began her academic career in the United States where she earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Southern Illinois University.

She then moved to New York, where she became a senior producer of the award-winning documentary, 39 Pounds of Love. The film won the 2005 Ofir Award (Israeli Oscar) for best documentary and was screened at numerous festivals, including the 2005 Full Frame Film Festival, and IDA DocuWeek. 39 Pounds of Love was released in U.S. (Landmark) theaters in late 2005, and made the Academy Award short list for best documentary film.

Medalia received a 2005 Regional Emmy Award for the documentary project, Condition: John Foppe (Program Feature, Public Affairs category) and the 2004 Angelus Award for directing the student film, Daughters of Abraham. The project also won second place in the documentary category at 2004 BEA and received the 2003 UFVA Carole Fielding Student Grant.

Medalia was recognized as having the Southern Illinois University Best Thesis of the Year (2004) and was awarded second place in the promo/commercial category at Broadcast Education Association (BEA) 2003 for directing/producing/editing the commercial, Tantastic. She also won a National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) Film and Student Award for ALT.LANDSCAPE, a five-minute scripted narrative. To Die in Jerusalem is her first feature documentary.

Related Articles:

To Die in Jerusalem

To Die In Jerusalem: Interview with Hilla Medalia

To Die In Jerusalem: Behind the Bombing

To Die In Jerusalem: The Girls and Their Mothers

All video and photos courtesy of HBO Documentaries