Giado: Holocaust in the Desert — Claims Conference Film Grants

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The story of a never mentioned Holocaust: the Libyan Jews’ Holocaust.

Synopsis

For seven decades, Yosef Dadush concealed a private diary, securely locked away in a closet at his home. Only after his passing was the diary unearthed, granting us a precious opportunity to peer into the harrowing existence endured by the inmates of Giado—a concentration camp situated in the heart of the Libyan desert. “GIADO” chronicles the relentless struggle of a man who fighting for recognition of the Libyan holocaust, even as he shielded his own children from its haunting truths.

About the Directors

Sharon Yaish is an Ophir Award winner for the film A Whore Like Me. A director and editor for over 25 years. Among her notable projects: Letter Without an Address (Haifa Festival 2024), Giado: Holocaust in the Desert (2023 Jerusalem Festival), Incoming Call (film and series for Yes Docu 2023 Docaviv), Elish’s Notebooks (winner of the Editing Award 2017 Docaviv), Love, That Was Not (IDFA, winner Docaviv 2021), How Silence Speaks (winner of Best Debut Film Docaviv), Why I Said I (Jerusalem Festival), South Los Angeles–a documentary musical. In the past, she served as Creative Director at Keshet Broadcasting.

Golan Rise is a graduate of Maale-Film School. Director of: Elish’s Notebook (Doc Aviv-Best Editing); In His Own Way for Channel 10; Los Angeles South-2017 Documentary Musical (2022) for Reshet 13 Channel.

Artistic Statement

Director Sharon Yaish is protagonist Yossef Dadush’s granddaughter. Only Sharon has full access to the journal and secret documents shown in the film for the first time. Documents from Yad Vashem, Israel’s renowned Holocaust Museum were obtained and eyewitnesses tell their story with their families’ permit.

But both of us, directors Sharon and Golan, as grandchildren of Lybian Jews immigrants, find this to be a mission of the greatest importance, spreading our grandparents’ Holocaust stories never told before, parting the ways for them into history’s pages.