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The Center

Dizengoff Center, the first shopping center in Israel, has become a phenomenon, an icon, a city within a city. “The Center” is more than a shrine for consumption or a shopping place, for many people it’s a place they call “a home”. The Center will discover the story and the history of Dizengoff Center, layer by layer, from the ground it was built on, to the top floor and the secrets this place withholds. The film will travel from the past to the present in order to try and find out what makes this place so special.

  • Kobi Farag
    Director
    Photo Farag, Spotting Yossi, Queen Shoshana
  • Morris Ben-Mayor
    Director
    Spotting Yossi, Queen Shoshana
  • Morris Ben-Mayor
    Writer
    Photo Farag, Spotting Yossi, Queen Shoshana
  • Shauly Melamed
    Writer
    Spotting Yossi, Queen Shoshana, Mini DV
  • Kobi Farag
    Writer
    Photo Farag, Spotting Yossi, Queen Shoshana
  • Kobi Farag
    Producer
    Spotting Yossi, Queen Shoshana
  • Liron Amir
    Line Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    סרט בסנטר
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 50 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 12, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    Israel
  • Country of Filming:
    Israel, Thailand
  • Language:
    English, Hebrew
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • DocAviv Festival
    Tel Aviv
    Israel
    May 12, 2023
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Kobi Farag, Morris Ben-Mayor

Ben-Mayor & Farag Studio was established in 2016 by Kobi Farag and Morris Ben-Mayor. Following their collaboration on Farag’s debut film Photo Farag, the two founded a documentary studio in Tel Aviv.

Morris Ben Mayor:
A director and editor for film and television. He is an Academy Award winner for the best editing of the documentary series Kirshenbaum Diaries. Since 2016 he co-owns Ben-Mayor & Farag, a documentary film studio, and had co-directed alongside Kobi Farag Spotting Yossi (2019) and Queen Shoshana. He won the Israeli documentary forum award for the best editing of Spotting Yossi.

Kobi Farag: An Israeli director and actor from Tel Aviv. His debut film Photo Farag was nominated for best documentary in the Ophir Israeli Academy Awards of 2016. Photo Farag was first to show Farag’s unique voice. His observation between archives to culture, photography to cinematography. Later Farag co-directed Spotting Yossi and Queen Shoshana With Morris Ben-Mayor. Both films won greet success with the audience

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Director Statement

Our portrayal of Dizengoff Center's reality hinges on its eclectic nature and constant evolution. Defining it with a single word is a challenge due to its ever-changing character. To navigate this, we categorized the center into distinct areas, each documented with unique photography styles capturing its essence.

The film seamlessly moves between these areas, using various cameras to intimately follow the lives of its inhabitants as they slowly reveal themselves. From regular patrons to rooftop youth, basement-dwelling bats, and enigmatic underground tunnels, we capture both significant events and fleeting moments. Each story, recorded in a style befitting its essence, contributes to a multifaceted narrative of characters, events, and emotions within this vibrant space.