Zeruya Shalev – Writing Love in a Time of War

Zeruya Shalev is the voice of Israel. Her topics: family conflicts, love and pain. In the film, she tells her family story which is inextricably linked to the founding of Israel. A poem that Shalev wrote when she was just 11 years old reveals the melancholy of a child growing up in a country without peace. In 2004, she narrowly survived a terrorist attack, which she dealt with in her novel PAIN. Excerpts from Shalev’s work, read by Maria Schrader and Martina Gedeck, intertwine with the author’s memories to form a multifaceted film portrait. Particularly in times of war, Shalev recalls a quote by the poet Leah Goldberg: “Writing about love in times of war is not only permissible, it is a necessity.”