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An artistic declaration - While “Homo Sapiens” isn’t autobiographical, it is taken from my life in many ways. The idea was to convey what someone goes through in their first encounter with someone who is homosexual. There is plenty of curiosity, but there is a lot of discomfort as well. You might not know exactly what to say or how to act, and perhaps there isn’t any reason to act any differently. In “Homo Sapiens” this is what happens to an infantile man child named Bar, something which I hope makes the comedy even greater. As such, I decided to shoot in a pseudo-documentary style, giving the film a mockumentary aesthetic, the difference being that unlike a mockumentary, the content isn’t trying to pass itself off as that of an authentic documentary. This technique is common in our current age of TV comedy, such as in “The Office”, whilst my biggest inspiration, aesthetically and in terms of humor, is “Modern Family”. This technique creates the feeling of something real, taken from life, and that the viewers are actually peeking into Bar’s private life. The humoristic potential held in this aesthetic was another reason as well that I decided to shoot the film like this. Secondly, it was important for me not to make another film about some “poor homosexual”, or a comedy about some extrovert homosexual. I wanted to show the gay community in all its beauty and more importantly, in how it doesn’t differ so much from any other community. They have some good people and some not so good people, more attractive and less attractive types, those who are alike and those who are different, and others who are special or not so special. It was this thought which dictated the casting process as I wanted to avoid the character of a stereotypical homosexual. These varying factors were all meant to create a film that is funny and touching as well. More than this, my main desire was to create a film that deals with the gay community in a way that hasn’t been done before – first of all, with the aid of characters from the community whose sexual orientation isn’t what determines the shaping of their character, and secondly, from the point of view and the experience of someone who isn’t part of the community and is engaging with it for the very first time.
Country: Israel
T-Port Partner: The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University
Webpage: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9860128/
Biography (About the Director) My name is Bar Friedman and I am 29 years old. Ever since I can remember I was attracted to the stage and the theatre. I only got hit with the movie bug later on. One day in the ninth grade I was roaming around the schoolyard and I saw some of my best friends sitting on a bench outside one of the classrooms. I approached them and I suddenly realized that they were in the middle of a film class. That’s just the kind of thing you can expect to happen in a democratic school. So I decided to join them and as it turned out, as cliched as this may sound, that was the moment that changed my life. I fell in love with the craft of filmmaking. Filmography "Reality Show" (2020) – Short (16'): Writing and Directing. A short film, who was chosen among tens of scripts to be produced. Not yet released. "Homo Sapiens" (2019) – Short (20'): Writing and Directing. Screening – TLVFest (Israel, June, August 2019) Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival (Israel, June 2019) Fargo-Moorhead LGBT Film Festival (USA, September 2019) Omovies Film Festival 2019 (Italy, December 2019) The Mediterranean Film Festival 2020 – Best Idea Award (Italy, July 2020) OUTshine Film Festival (USA, October 2020) Torino Short Film Market (Italy, November 2020) boyOHboy Films Marathon (France, May 2021) QueerBee LGBT Film Festival (UK, October 20201) "Technological Assistance for Football Refereeing" (2018) – Video Essay (6'): Writing, Directing and Editing. Screenings – Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival (Israel, June 2018) ARTAU Festival (Israel, June 2019) "Replicant Mind" (2018) "Replicant Mind" (2018) - Short (9'): Writing and Editing Screenings – Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival (Israel, June 2018) Utopia Festival 2018 (Israel, December 2018) Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (South Korea, June 2019) Atlanta Horror Film Festival (USA, September 2019) Fargo Fantastic Film Festival (USA, September 2019) Sound & Image Challenge International (China, December 2019) Boston Sci-Film Festival (USA, February 2020) "Surprise" (2017) – Short (5'): Writing, Directing and Editing. Screenings – Short Short Story Film Festival (USA, November 2017) The Israeli Films Festival in Recife (Brazil, December 2018). "First Course", a project within the film was chosen to be screened at cinematheques throughout Israel.
A student who has yet to fully mature and who is also a bit ignorant,...
