The “Mountain of Rest” is the largest Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem. Necropolis is a meditation on its construction as it expands to accommodate a growing aging population. Director Keren Alexander’s documentary traces the vast forms of labor that converge in the making of this “city of the dead.” The film follows Palestinian construction workers, burial society workers, and the complex network of machinery—from bulldozers to biometrics—that sustains the project. Above the half-built tunnels, viewers encounter the sacred work of ritual and tradition.
The new burial spaces bring tourists, mourners, and even curious architecture students. Necropolis’s long takes and contemplative cinematography illuminate a subtle complexity, while fragments of conversation reveal the tensions surrounding different practices of death and mourning. Alexander examines the daily lives of those affected by the necropolis, from the women who prepare bodies for burial to the men who have spent more than seven years digging its tunnels. —Karina Curry
World Premiere
Keren Alexander is a screenwriter and director from Tel Aviv. She holds a BFA from the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University, where she studied in the Cinema Directing department. During her studies, she directed two short films that screened at European film festivals. Her documentary short A Delicate Balance (2012) was selected for the Shanghai International Film Festival. Her mid-length graduation film Coda for a Captain (2021) premiered at the Docaviv Film Festival in the “Depth of Field” competition. Her documentary Necropolis was pitched at the Ji.hlava New Visions Forum. Alexander also works as a content editor and screenwriter for documentary projects and serves as a lecturer for local film funds and festivals.