Buried Alive
Search the Site
Newsletter Signup
Sign up to our newsletter to receive updates about what's going on at the NFCT
Buried Alive
The film documents the struggle of a middle-aged woman from Yavneh who sets out in search of her husband, Danny Sa’il, who was a member of the Israeli Black Panthers organization, and disappeared twenty years earlier under mysterious political circumstances. His wife, Mazal Sa’il, is considered an agunah under Jewish law and is forbidden from remarrying without a divorce or clear evidence of her husband’s death. Mazal’s search for the truth leads her to uncover two contradictory stories surrounding her husband – some claim that he was working for the Mossad, while others claim that he was a traitor working for the anti-Israel Arab front. Her quest leads her to take on both the military and the religious establishments in Israel.
Festivals and Awards:
Jerusalem International Film Festival, 1996; Leipzig Film Festival, 1996; FIPA Biaritz, 1996; Montreal International Film Festival, 1997
Director: David Fisher
Producer: David Fisher
Cinematographer: Nili Atzlan
Editor: Hadara Oren
Original Soundtrack: Ilan Harel
Supporter(s): New Fund for Cinema and Television, Channel 1 - Israel Broadcast Authority, MTVS Meimad Studios
Subtitles: English
Film Name in Hebrew: קברו אותו והוא חי
Category: Ethnicity / Israeli Society / Women
Tag Words: agunah Black Panthers divorce Mossad traitor
The film documents the struggle of a middle-aged woman from Yavneh who sets out in search of her husband, Danny Sa’il, who was a member of the Israeli Black Panthers organization, and disappeared twenty years earlier under mysterious political circumstances. His wife, Mazal Sa’il, is considered an agunah under Jewish law and is forbidden from remarrying without a divorce or clear evidence of her husband’s death. Mazal’s search for the truth leads her to uncover two contradictory stories surrounding her husband – some claim that he was working for the Mossad, while others claim that he was a traitor working for the anti-Israel Arab front. Her quest leads her to take on both the military and the religious establishments in Israel.
Festivals and Awards:
Jerusalem International Film Festival, 1996; Leipzig Film Festival, 1996; FIPA Biaritz, 1996; Montreal International Film Festival, 1997
Director: David Fisher
Producer: David Fisher
Cinematographer: Nili Atzlan
Editor: Hadara Oren
Original Soundtrack: Ilan Harel
Supporter(s): New Fund for Cinema and Television, Channel 1 - Israel Broadcast Authority, MTVS Meimad Studios
Subtitles: English
Film Name in Hebrew: קברו אותו והוא חי
Category: Ethnicity / Israeli Society / Women
Tag Words: agunah Black Panthers divorce Mossad traitor