ABSTRACT
In the film Sabra, the first fiction film made in Palestine/Eretz Israel, Jewish settlers from Russia arrive at a desolate place in Palestine. There they establish a communal settlement that will develop into a flourishing kibbutz. The kibbutz first appears on-screen, in the earliest films ever made in Palestine/Eretz Israel, in the 1930s. The narrative of initiation of the Holocaust survivors accompanied by rituals of passage is a prevalent theme in the kibbutz films of this period. Panoramic views of the kibbutzim reveal fields and settlements, reflecting both the real and symbolic aspects of the Zionist socialist ideas. In the 1980s, the Israeli cinema returned to a discussion of social, ethnic, and national conflicts, as well as comedies, teen films, and candid-camera films. The dramatic changes in the cinematic representation of the kibbutz over eighty years of Israeli cinema reflect the significant moral and ethical changes that have taken place in Israeli society and culture.
