UK Premiere: The Statesman

Dir. Dan Geva and Noit Geva I Israel 2010 I 100 mins I Hebrew with English subtitles

A compelling cinematic biography of Chaim Weizmann, first President of the State of Israel, whose life and work changed the course of the history of the Jewish people.

Weizmann was born in Russian in 1874 in the small village of Motal near Pinsk. As an 11-year-old child he envisaged the founding of a State for the Jews and from that time onwards he wrote endless letters to everyone from Lord Balfour to Churchill to persuade them of his dream. In 1910 he became a British subject and a lecturer in Manchester where, as one of the most renowned chemists of his generation, he discovered acetone which was used in the manufacture of Cordite for explosives.

The film depicts much of his life in England and also highlights his relationship with his beloved wife Vera and his fervent love letters to her revealing the tremendous physical and emotional price he paid for his dedication to his work and his political commitments.

Sponsored by Neil Davis Charitable Trust