Project Detail

Riva

Synopsis

Riva is the portrait of a woman, Riva Ben Eliezer, now ninety years old. How do you look at the life of someone who has lived through so much? I would look at her hands, wrinkled and old, and think, these are the hands that did all those things, that were communist in Palestine, that were imprisoned and tortured, that bore children and a great and terrible war, that lived in Siberia, that taught kindergarten, that wrote books. These hands, no other, did this, and this is what they look like now. This is what time and life has done to my grandmother's hands.
 
But the film is more than that. It is more than a portrait of a woman who lived through extraordinary times, who was a Jew in a place and time when there was nothing and nowhere worse to be. It is the portrait of a whole life, not just the sections that have the most drama. It is the portrait of her now - for now contains all her past, somehow, in her hands and in her face. In her voice and especially in her laugh.
 
It is a private film made for the public. The use of hand processed images, with their patina of blotches and scratches, creats a space for Riva to exist, where the presentation of her ninety-year-old body is not intrusive but respectful. It is a private film also because it was made in private, just me and her, so our relationship becomes a part of it.
 
It is not my intention with this film to deify Riva. Just to show her, as I see her, because it is important to see the lives of others, lives that have been deeply lived, as Riva's has.

Details

Year
2004
Type of project
Shorts
Running time
13 mins
Format
16mm, Kodak
Director
Tamara Tracz
Producer
Tamara Tracz
Editor
Tamara Tracz
Screenwriter
Tamara Tracz
Director of Photography
Tamara Tracz
Sound
Tamara Tracz
Principal cast
Riva Ben Eliezer

Production Status

Production Company

Edible Thistle

107 Shakespeare Walk
London
N16 8TB
UK

T +44 (0)20 7923 7828

tamtracz@aol.com

Sales Company

Edible Thistle

107 Shakespeare Walk
London
N16 8TB
UK

T +44 (0)20 7923 7828

tamtracz@aol.com

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

A woman BFI Partner Funded Short Film

Director: Sarah Lutton

Year: 2026

BFI Partner Funded Short Film

About A Bell About A Bell

Director: Simon Callow

Year: 2026

Sami, a Syrian refugee in the UK, and Bryony, an aimless young librarian, embark on a highly personal quest to preserve a bell from a demolished Christian church. What begins as a civic protest quickly becomes a criminal case when they accidentally near fatally injure a security guard, and find themselves on the run from the police. However, our accidental heroes’ fate is sealed by a kindly police sergeant who is moved by their mission, and our odd-couple achieve their goal of saving the bell and reminding the town they both call home about the importance of remembering its own story.

Steiner Steiner

Director: Remo Pini

Year: 2028

The dramatic true story of Austrian visionary, Rudolf Steiner who against ridicule, controversy and attempts on his life, developed an intricate philosophy based on his ability to research and perceive spiritual dimensions.