Invisible: Evgenia Dodina interview

Evgenia Dodina, a leading Israeli actor, is intent on exploring the profound, immutable bonds that can exist between two women. Earlier this year the Russian-born artist appeared on stage in Munich in an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s extraordinary 1966 psychological drama Persona (screening midnight September 9 on SBS ONE). Dodina, who cannot speak German, played Elizabeth, the famous actress who has stopped speaking, while Juliane Kohler played her nurse, Lily. In November, in Israel, they will swap roles, with Kohler, who doesn’t speak Hebrew, as the silent Elizabeth and Dodina as Lily.

“It is a special thing to play both roles,” explains Dodina, who is visiting Australia for the first time to help promote the Israeli Film Festival, and there’s a similar duality present in her work that’s featured in 2012’s annual presentation of Israeli cinema, which for the first time is touring nationally.

In Michal Aviad’s Invisible, Dodina (pictured left) plays Nira, a television editor who spots an unknown but familiar female face in footage of peace activists working with Palestinian farmers. When she meets the other woman, Lily (Ronit Elkabetz, pictured right), they both realise that they met at a police identification parade two decades prior, where they identified the serial rapist who had previously attacked both of them.

Both women have nominally carried on with their lives, pursuing careers and starting families, but there are perpetual tremors and undercurrents that mark their lives. Being in proximity to each other reminds them of what they have been through, even if they have different means of trying to shut it out, and their bond is forged in ways even they can’t fully explain.

It was the chance to pursue that emotional entanglement, especially opposite the gifted Elkabetz (The Band’s Visit), which convinced Dodina to consider Aviad’s script, which was based on real life crimes in Israel. It also helped that Aviad had a background in documentary making.

“I like directors that have a documentary background because they have a special feeling of truth. When I read the script it was a very painful story, but I loved that it was looking at the long term effects, the psychological effects,” explains Dodina. “It was a difficult way to find the money, because everyone advised to have flashbacks, but Michal didn’t agree and that took a lot of courage.”

“We knew from the beginning that it was two women but one character,” Dodina adds. “We had a long preparation, not just with the script but Ronit, Michal and I spent time together, we cooked together, we talked. There were moments in every scene that weren’t in the script but came out of us being so close.”

Invisible plays as part of a film festival that obviously benefits from the uplift in Israeli filmmaking. When Dodina, who is Jewish and was born and raised in Russia, where she studied stage acting, immigrated to Israel in 1991 the creative and commercial impact of the country’s film industry was but a shadow of what it is today. From Yossi Madmoni’s opening night drama, Restoration, to Jonathan Sagall’s Lipstikka, which plays like a companion piece to Invisible, this year’s survey of Israeli film is strong. Dodina compares her country’s rise to the wave that elevated South Korea cinema beginning a decade ago, and that made her decision to support the Australian festival an easy one.

“It’s a festival of Israeli cinema and I belong to the Israeli cinema. I’m proud to be here, to introduce and promote the Israeli cinema, because the last few years have been exceptional,” she notes. “Israeli films have screened at every festival and they’re becoming known around the world.”

The actress spent years on the stage in Israel, performing in adaptations of various classics, but eventually her talents attracted television and movie directors, and unlike some famous predecessors she has made the translation from live audience to camera without undue incident.

“It’s a matter of experience and time,” Dodina suggests. “And I like changing between cinema, television and theatre: if you only do one it becomes routine, and routines become set.”

Whether they’re pursuing political or personal aims, filmmaking has become a way for Israelis to consider the realities of their nation and begin a national dialogue. In the case of Invisible, the picture’s domestic release highlighted the prevalence of sexual assault or its threat, as well as the sometimes indifferent attitude of authorities to victims.

“It had public resonance. The most important thing for me was the women coming up to us after screenings and saying, ‘I was raped, and now I feel better having seen the movie’. For me, as an actress, that’s a very important thing,” explains Dodina. “Every trauma leaves a different scar. We knew you must see something in their eyes. We wanted to show, without showing the act, how your life can be destroyed.”


The Israeli Film Festival runs until September 9 in Melbourne and September 5 in Brisbane, with seasons of September 4 to 12 in Perth and September 5 to 9 in Adelaide. For more information see www.aice.com.au.