Shoemakers' Alley in Jaffa

This short film is rather an impression, almost a mere glimpse. David Perlov's personal style is identified already at this early stage, for example, when one of the charachters looks towards the camera and smiles shyly, yet with dignity. Such smiles will reappear in many of Perlov's later films. The documentary films produced in those years in Israel reflected the official ideology, which the producers tried to impose on the filmmakers mainly through the narration. Perlov once said: "Jews make and watch films with their ears, not with their eyes". Perlov fought against this tendency. Shoemakers Alley in Jaffa, like Perlov's other films from that time, lacks national dogma. It believes in the power of cinema, and expresses the individuality of each human being it records, notwithstanding the collective experience.