Beyond The Fear

The controversial story of Yitzhak Rabin's killer that blends love, romance, religion, murder and consequence

Beyond The Fear At 26 Yigal Amir assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israel's great hope for peace with Palestine. He was condemned to rot in prison for the rest of his days. Enter Larisa Tremblova, a Russian academic who had settled in Israel with her children and who was moved to pity for the young murderer. This poetic documentary follows the love affair that developed between mother and murderer. A doc that has attracted the collective ire of the Israeli people.

November 4, 1995. Tel-Aviv. Prime minister Yitzhak Rabin takes to the stage to address a peace rally. To ecstatic cheers, he announces his hope for an imminent peace deal. Moments later, gunshots ring out into the night. The crowd's joy gives way to anger and disbelief. Rabin has been shot. The rally is transformed into a giant public wake. Yigal Amir, the assassin, is immediately seized. He is destined to spend the rest of his days in solitary isolation in a cell, or so it seems.

Two years later, Larisa Trembovler and her husband start corresponding with Amir by letter, offering sympathy to Israel's most-hated prisoner. "They wished to help a person whom the state system wanted to crush." Their request to visit him in prison is initially refused. After a legal battle, it is granted, but only to Larisa.

"The idea was to support him, but I ended up finding a soulmate", says Larisa. Leaving her four children at home, she would drive for hours, far into the desert, for the privilege of holding Amir's hand across the table. Divorce followed, and Larisa hoped for a fresh start with Amir. She dared to dream that, despite the circumstances, the two of them could have a semblance of a 'normal' relationship. "We are a couple, we love each and we want to have children!"

A long fight separates them and this goal. The media will vilify them and the public will denounce them. Only the dogged determination of the underdog will see them through, along with a simple mantra: "Never be afraid."

Beyond The Fear, Hertz Frank's last film, which he made with Maria Kravchenko, is a poetic meditation on life, death and love.

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Laurel Official Selection - Hot Docs, 2015
Laurel Winner - Best Documentary, Tarkovsky Festival 2015
Laurel Official Selection - San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 2015
Laurel Opening film - Riga International Film Festival, Latvia 2015
Laurel Opening film - Artdokfest, Moscow 2015
Laurel Winner - Laureal Branch Award, Moscow 2015
Laurel Nominee - Nika Award for Best Documentary, by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science
FULL SYNOPSIS

The Producers


Maria Kravchenko:
Collecting Shadows (2006), Kill Gauleiter (2007), Body Parts (2009), The Great Waltz (2010)
Born in Grozny city, Chechenian republic in 1981. When I was three years old, my family moved to Western Siberia. First degree in journalism, State Saratov University (1999-2004). In 2004 I came to Moscow, worked in TV and press, and was enrolled in VGIK (All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography) documentary department, class of S.V. Miroshnichenko, - respected figure in Russian culture, secretary of Cinematography Union of Russia, winner of Emmy, Teffy, Nika and other internationally recognized awards.


Herz Frank:
Starting from 1959 worked at Riga Film Studios as a photographer, editor and a documentary film script writer and director. Directed more than 30 documentaries. His debut as a director of documentary films is THE SALT BREAD (1965).

Since 1965, Herz Frank works solely as a film director, and he is famous by his fine understanding of human psychology Characteristic features of Frank's films are philosophical generalisations, his ability to get into the depths of human soul, and the desire to discover secrets in relations between a human being and the surrounding world, Being an author of more than 30 films, he has received a number of international prizes at various film festivals. Since 1993, Frank resides in Israel and in Latvia. In 2002, Frank was elected member of the TV Academy of Eurasia, in 2002, Frank founded his own production company "Studio EFEF" that will continue and keep up the traditions of the Riga School of Poetic Documentary Cinema.

Making The Film


Herz Frank worked at “Beyond the Fear” till the last day of his life… Even his shortest phrase or a smallest shot could embody the universe. Herz Frank was an artist who knew how to reflect life. We can see that his shots are seemingly simple, with no floridity, but there is such abundance of life, thoughts and emotions in them that you cannot quite understand: how did he achieve it?! During one of our last meetings Herz asked me: “Do you know what this film is actually about? It is about unpredictability of life!” This idea was like a key to why Herz loved documentary cinema so much – for its volatile and overwhelming wishing to touch the eternal question of the existence of mankind, beginning from the very creation of the world. He did not ever stop rejoicing in life, just like a child in a sunny morning running on the terrace and seeing a new and wide world for the first time in life.

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