Lia: In Her Own Words

Product DescriptionKnown as the first lady of Israeli cinema, Lia van Leer's legacy is immense: she helped create a thriving film culture in Israel and established two of Jerusalem's main cultural attractions the Cinmathque and the Jerusalem Film Festival.Her childhood promised a very different life: born in Bal?i Bessarabia, then in Romania, Lia Greenberg's family was well todo and her mother a fervent Zionist, but only Lia and her elder sister were to survive the fate that met her entire family. Lia had always loved film but it was together with Wim van Leer, her beloved husband, that they feasted on old classics, experimental Japanese films and arthouse films wherever they travelled, buying copies of films and starting their own screenings at home in Haifa.Slowly they started a film club, then established a film archive and later, alone, Lia created the Jerusalem Film Club which developed into the famous Cinmathque. Lia talks about how she learnt along the way and how she accomplished things through skill, luck, networking and sheer chutzpah. Her final achievement was the Jerusalem Film Festival, which immediately brought glamour and prestige to Jerusalem. Today the Jerusalem Cinmathque is a prominent part of the Israeli cultural scene and is renowned in international film circles. It is a living monument to the extraordinary woman who founded it and gave it a dynamic life of its own.About the AuthorBorn in Romania in 1924, Lia van Leer was sent to Palestine in the winter of 1939/40 which spared her the fate that met her family. She and her Dutchborn husband, Wim, created a thriving film culture in Israel, established the Israel Film Archive and founded the Cinmathque in Jerusalem which transformed the city. Alone she created the Jerusalem Film Festival bringing glamour and prestige to Jerusalem as well as international recognition of Israeli cinematic talent. She became a muchloved figure at film festivals and died in Jerusalem in 2015.