Anna, Helan – Bevs – Sax Remy John Fleck

This video has several segments the first being a musical performance in what looks like a coffee shop. The second is a reading of a journal that was kept between the days of January 20 and 24 of 1991 by an Israeli-American living in Israel at the time of Saddam Hussein's bombing of Israel in the Gulf War. The last two parts are of a bar in LA that is being threatened to be torn down and a friend of Binder, the filmmaker, chatting with her in his home and then performing for her there.

0:00Copy video clip URL Open on a street at nighttime. There is a sign above what looks like a bar but it is not in focus. Judith Binder, the filmmaker, enters what looks like a coffee shop and meets two different people there, one of whom seems to be in between performances. This friend then performs some kind of experimental music. She talks to another man in the coffee shop and then films him talking to his friends, which consists of most of the store.

8:32Copy video clip URL Switch to shots of a sound board while Binder talks with two men. It appears to still be in the same coffee shop, although an undisclosed amount of time has passed as Binder’s musician friend has left. There is a quick cut in the footage and then Binder’s friend is back behind her music desk. Binder continues to pan around the shop picking up conversations of the people near her. A man seems to be preparing to play some music on his guitar. The man and Binder’s friend begin performing experimental music using a variety of techniques. She speakings in a language other than English, although it is unclear which—it sounds European or possibly invented.

24:58Copy video clip URL Binder cuts away to what looks like the exterior of a hotel named the Dresden and then zooms into a sign that says “At the Piano — Martin and Elayne — Nightly.” She walks into the hotel, goes to the bar, and chats with her companion for the evening. There is very poor lighting and as such the only things that can be seen are the lights and the bar.

28:23Copy video clip URL Cut to a shot of a girl who seems to be a teenager. She talks about her friend who is an American who married an Israeli and then subsequently moved to Israel. The girl reads from a journal entry dated Jan. 20-24 1991 that the Israeli-American woman sent her. The journal talks about bombings and gas masks. “Hi welcome to Israel, here’s your gas mask.” She mentions Hussein at many points as the enemy of Israel. She talks about how she has moved from thinking about her life years in advance to thinking about her life on a day to day basis. She talks about her children’s gas mask boxes, “they look so innocent, like lunch boxes.” The girl reading the journal is a bit misty-eyed. The girl and someone who may be her sister record a greeting to their friends in Israel.

43:30Copy video clip URL Binder returns to the bar she started the video at, it is called Formosse. She enters and talks to the owner, where apparently there is some controversy over whether it will be torn down or not. It seems that the person who wants to tear it down is one of the Warner Brothers but not Jack Warner. Binder talks to several of the patrons within the bar. She and a friend go to a club where she is asked not to film.

49:12Copy video clip URL Switch to a shot of a man who is talking to Binder’s friend. They go into what looks like a converted apartment with a bar and a jazz band. Binder speaks with several patrons.

56:11Copy video clip URL Binder returns to the bar in the light of day and goes inside to talk with some of the patrons and servers.

58:46Copy video clip URL Cut to the exterior of a theater where Binder films a saxophone player.

1:00:55Copy video clip URL Switch to shot of a small girl being interviewed by Binder. Soon after there is a shot of a man’s home of said man talking with Binder. They chat about the war, AIDs, and various other current events. He shows her some ideas for some kind of performance. He talks about his acting career and does quite a bit of acting for the camera.

1:58:47Copy video clip URL Video ends.