7:30pm Thursday, May 11, 2023
137 Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst
Attachment / Natten Har Øjne
(Gabriel Bier-Gislason, 2022, Denmark, in Danish/English/Hebrew w/ English subtitles, 105 min)
This spellbinding horror film/love story follows the budding romance between Maja, a briefly famous Danish actress, and Leah, a graduate student who shares a London house with her mysterious, ultra-orthodox Jewish mother, who is also Danish. From sweet meet-cute to uncanny battle of wills, Attachment builds on secrets rooted in ages-old folklore and mysticism toward a breathtaking revelation.
** PLEASE NOTE Special Date!
Film Screening
followed by
Discussion and Q&A with
Gabriel Bier-Gislason
(Writer/Director)
Introduction by
Olga Gershenson
Professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies
and Film Studies
UMass Amherst
Free and open to the public.
Gabriel Bier-Gislason
(Director)
Gabriel Bier Gislason is a writer/director from Copenhagen. Based out of London and New York for over a decade, he returned to his native Denmark after graduating from NYU’s Grad Film Program. His first feature, ATTACHMENT, a Danish-UK horror romance steeped in Jewish mythology, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2022, followed by, among others, Outfest, Fantastic Fest, and the BFI London Film Festival.
Olga Gershenson
(UMass Amherst)
Olga Gershenson is a Professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies and Film Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she is also on the Film Studies faculty. A multi-disciplinary scholar, her interests lie at the intersection of culture, history, and film. Her first book, Gesher: Russian Theater in Isreal (2005), pioneered the study of Russian immigrant cultural production. A series of articles on Russian-Israeli cinema cemented her status as the premier expert in the field. Gershenson’s last book, The Phantom Holocaust (2013), reveals unknown Holocaust films from the Soviet Union. According to the journal Holocaust and Genocide Studies, it “will serve as a foundation for all further research and reflection on the topic.” Along with film, Professor Gershenson does research on spaces, examining the relationship between places, politics, history, and culture. She edited a collection Ladies and Gents: Public Toilets and Gender (2009). Her special issue of Eastern European Jewish Affairs charts for the first time a map of new Jewish museums throughout post-communist Europe, examining the relationship between politics, history, and culture. Professor Gershenson is now writing a book about new Israeli horror films.