Synopsis: The film “Counterlight” (2016, 23:30 min.) by Artist Maya Zack is the 3rd part of her Memory Trilogy of award-winning films - following “Mother Economy” and “Black and White Rule”. “Counterlight” 2016 is a hypnotic journey into the depths of consciousness that follows the traces of poet, Paul Celan, one of the greatest poets of the modern-postmodern era. A female archive researcher listens to extracts from original recordings by the poet and changes from an archivist into an alchemist. She dissects in an almost surgical manner the archival materials – photographs, maps, documents and poems – that will enable her to reconstruct and resurrect the past and intervene in it till the boundaries between reality and documentation, past and present are blurred. In a surrealistic process, she penetrates the space of an old street photograph of 1937 Czernowitz and meets Celan’s mother who is baking challah bread in her kitchen, until her task transforms into female magic which leads to the creation of the “memory-golem.” In recent years, Zack researched Paul Celan’s world and creative process, through the actual and mythical female figures in his life. To these, she has interwoven images of death and birth and dedicated the film to the memory of her mother. Biography: Maya Zack (B. 1976, Israel) is a visual artist and filmmaker working with video, computerized visualizations, installation and drawing. Her work ties together themes of memory, history, documentation, virtuality. Zack is a lecturer in Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem. She is a graduate of Bezalel, Academy of Art and Design, Fine Art Department, Jerusalem 2000 .B.F.A Magna Cum Laude. She studied at the Tel Aviv University 2008-12 and in Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee Student Exchange Program. In 2016 Maya Zack had a comprehensive solo show Counterlight at Tel Aviv Museum of Art Currently she is exhibiting her film “Mother Economy” as part of Capital , an show at Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin as well as her solo show in Galleria MLF Rome. In November 2016 she will open a solo show in Galleria MLF Brussels. Previous solo shows include The Jewish Museum New York/ Alon Segev Gallery Tel Aviv/ Yaffo 23 Bezalel Gallery Jerusalem/ The Shabbat Room - permanent installation at The Jewish Museum Vienna/ Manifesta 10's parallel projects, Taiga Space, St. Petersburg/ CUC Gallery, Berlin/ Galerie Natalie Seroussi Paris. Group shows include The 3rd Moscow International Biennale for Young Art/ Daimler Art Collection, Berlin/ The Israel Museum Jerusalem/ The Jewish Museum Berlin/ Petach Tikva Museum of Art/ Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art/ The Haifa Museum of Art/ Taxispalais, Innsbruck, Austria/ Ursula Blickle foundation, Kraichtal, Germany/ LACE Los Angeles/ California Center for the Arts Museum Escondido/ Figge von Rosen Galerie Cologne Festivals screenings include Kino Der Kunst, film festival, Munich, German/ Hamburg International Short Film Festival, Winterthur Short film Festival Switzerland/ BUSHO Budapest Short film Festival Hungary/ Invideo video Art and film beyond Milan Italy/ Emergeandsee Media Arts Festival Berlin/ Werkleitz Festival Halle Germany/ Keolner Filmhaus Cologne Germany/ Suspended Spaces #1. Maison de la culture Amiens France/ Freewaves LA festival of new media arts LA USA/ International/ Trunk The Nordic Video-Art Festival – Östersund Sweden/ Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Festival of Expended Media/ Women Make Waves Film Festival Taipei Taiwan. Zack is a recipient of art and film awards and her work is represented in various public and private collections. Filmography: Counterlight 2016 / Black and White Rule 2011 / Mother Economy 2007 / Concrete and Cement 2: Door to Door 2005 / Meme 2. / The Units 2004 / Meme 1 2003 / Concrete and Cement 1: Preparations for the Resembling People Ceremony 2003 / Hier Seid Ihr Zusammen 2000. Production Support and Sponsors: The video was produced with the support of the Ostrovsky Family Fund; the Israel Lottery Council for Culture & Arts; Artis Grant Program; Outset Contemporary Art Fund; a grant from the Claims Conference; and Kronos Aerial Photography Credits: Director, writer Maya Zack Actress Michal Weinberg Cinematography Stanislav Levor Lighting Stanislav Levor, Noam Huber Editing Yael Hersonski, Sasha Franklin, Amos Ponger. Edit Studios Tel Aviv Original music Ophir Leibovitch Soundtrack design & mix Shahaf Wagshall D.B. Sound studios Sound editing Nin Hazan Production design Maya Zack Line producer Hagai Hirschfeld Costumes Yaron Arye, Maya Zack Make up Revital Cohen Aerial Photography Mickey Malka, Kronos Aerial Photography Grip Daniel Kaluzhsky Art direction Hagai Hirschfeld
