Acclaimed Israeli photojournalist Micha Bar-Am, who was also the New York Times Middle East photographer from 1968-1992, allowed filmmaker Ran Tal rare and total access to his vast archive of a half million photos and negatives. The images, many of which are deeply etched in Israeli collective memory, cover the years of Israeli statehood, in its most beautiful and bleakest moments. Composed entirely of Bar-Am’s images, along with audio commentary from the artist and his family, 1341 Frames provides an intimate portrait of an artist, as well as a meditation on memory, violence, beauty, and the price of documenting atrocities and war.

Ran Tal (Children of the Sun and The Museum, both presented by NCJF) is one of the world’s leading documentarians. So stunning was his innovative and rigorous embrace of Bar-Am’s photos, that the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, mounted the film as a multi-channel video installation. 1341 Frames premiered at the Berlinale and Telluride film festivals and won directing and editing awards at DocAviv.

Director: Ran Tal | Israel | 2022 | 90m | Hebrew with English subtitles

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