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EFFI & AMIR

TEXTS

In the mid 18 th century Rabbi Eliyahu, the Ga'on (Genius) of Vilnius , left his home and his
community and set out on a journey to the Land of Israel .
He never reached the Holy Land . The Ga'on returned to Vilnius and never said why.
Although, over the years, there have been various speculations, this episode remains a mystery.

Vil Nor in Yiddish means “if only you will it”, a popular saying referred to the great scholar
the Gaon (genius) of Vilnius ( 1720-1797) , a saying that suggest that if you want it enough-
nothing is out of reach.
Some hundred years later, Theodor Herzl, the visionary of the modern Jewish state, coined
the phrase: if you will- it is no legend.

VIL NOR is a legend, a fairy tale in black & white. A personal interpretation of what history failed to tell. It wonders whether dreams should be actually followed at all.

"Vil Nor" was made for the exhibition "Tel Aviv Video-the Sweet hereafter" in Vilnius CAC curated by Stephanie BenZaquen.

Script, camera, editing, special effects, setting, models, sound: Effi & Amir
Cast: Amir Borenstein

The text "sand thoughts" is a loose translation from the Hebrew version of the text, from the book: Collection of Chassidic stories, by I.L Peretz (see Hebrew version here-soon)

we would like to thanks:
Ayelet Sackstein, Daniel Von Strumer, Chloe Morrison for Translation consulting
Avi and Miryam Weiss, David Sperber for assistance in research
Ivo Van Stiphout for technical support
Kristina from CAC Vilnius, Barbara Meier Cesta and Rudolf Steiner for their constant interest and encouragement

Vil Nor is an independent production.