Nira Pereg is participating at the fsff – five lake filmfestival in Munich. Pereg will present her work ‘Shabbath’, 2008. The work documents the closing down of the ultra-orthodox neighborhoods in and around Jerusalem on the eve of the Sabbath. In most cases, public access to these neighborhoods is blocked by means of temporary barriers, which stay put for 24 hours – thus creating an artificial border between these areas and the rest of the city. The barriers are put in place by neighborhood residents, with the approval and support of the Jerusalem municipality and the police. Once the barriers are erected, no cars are allowed into Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox neighborhoods. The city is thus topologically transformed into two cities – with and without cars. Building on this ritual, Sabbath 2008 is a photographic ritual that can only be performed at a designated time and in designated places. Although the value of these somewhat rickety barriers may appear above all symbolic, their presence is a source of friction and conflict; they delineate a clear-cut boundary between the sacred and the mundane.

The screening will take place on July 31st, 2016

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