FOUNDATION OF MIND

Dror Heller was barely 17 when he wrote the script of Foundation of Mind and left his native Tel Aviv for one month in Paris. There he waited every night for the usually crammed streets of the city to empty so that he could stage his action. A year later, he went back for another month, determined to finish this film, which fortunately he did. It is almost unbelievable that Foundation of Mindwas conceived, written, videographed and edited single-handedly by a person who, at the time, was years away from being allowed to vote. His film is filled with passionate words burning to be told, and coming from a part of the world charged with conflict and violence makes this desire to be heard alarmingly important, while the fact that his action is staged in the heart of Europe is a telling detail. But the treatment of Mr. Heller’s cinema is definitely what stands out the most, not merely because of the formal seriousness and solemnity of manner delivered by a director who is only 18 years old; when reading his statement of purpose, one can only wonder what were these films that Mr. Heller was consuming in large quantities each night, because it is so hard to spot any influences in the one he made himself. Foundation of Mind is a piece of truly different cinema.