The movement of the wide lense camera from above passes over the Rothschild Boulevard at its Western End and over the nearby Gymnasia Herzliya, with only a handful of people walking in the street which today is buzzing with life and activity. This particular footage was taken in 1913 by the Mizrah Company from Odessa which also immortalized the students of the girls school walking in a kind of procession towards their school, a procession specially staged for this documentary.

A few years later the film shows the British High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, visiting the Gymnasia on taking office (the narrator mentions that the headmaster Chaim Bugrashov asked the High Commissioner to recommend the school to their Arab neighbors) in order to lay the basis for a future peaceful relationship.

Following this scene we see Yemenite Cobbler. Next to the legendary Eden cinema we see an emergency repair of a cart whose role was to sprinkle water on the sandy Herzl Street in order to reduce the effect of the dust in this sun scorched city.

The film maker - Yaakov Gross, has obtained this rare footage as a result of years of persistent search and tireless collection. Gross has now collated all his findings into one long and rhythmical film, not moving too rapidly from one scene to another. The original music was composed by NAHUM HEIMAN - one of Israel's most beloved writers of popular songs.

This film illustrates the public life of Tel Aviv, growing into as a city, buzzing from its earliest days and never resting from the moment the lots were cast for the plots of the naked sand from 1909 till 1949.

The film mainly touches upon the collective aspects of life in early Tel Aviv, public ceremonies, celebrations such as cutting of ribbons, Purim processions called AD-LOYADAS, children dressed in white bringing the first summer agricultural products on Shavuot, gymnastics with movements which to us look hilarious, the Macabia games and HAPOEL gathering on the gravel. There are also brave dives into the Yarkon river, how dangerous for its pollution, thousands enjoying the beaches, girls in high heels labouring over the unlevel ground of King George Street which then was called at the time the Carmel Street). In the Adloyada (Purim procession) of 1933, one of the floats was designed like a Nazi tank with a Swastika on it and a Zionist cannon pointing at it. At that time, they had the illusion that Hitler could be laughed at. The naivety is pathetic but at the same time heart warming.

The viewer emerges from the film feeling that the life of early Tel Aviv, with a promenade and coffee houses was buzzing with life even in the 1920s and a secular city quite different from Jerusalem.

Gross has made the utmost with the material available to him. He has avoided too much detail and allowed the film to flow preferring to make the viewer dizzy with riches. The whole film is an amalgamation of parts of documentaries and narration which tries to crown the scenes with the style of description prevalent in those days. This style is taken from the typical mode learnt mainly from contemporary newspaper reports. Spoken Hebrew was also in its early stages and foreign words were expressed not as a wish to be cosmopolitan, as is the case today but because they had not yet come up with a modern substitute. As so many modern things were not available in Biblical times new terminology had to be invented rapidly motor bikes were called MOTOTZIKLIM or the talking films were called Hear-Move.

We see and hear Dizengoff - first mayor of Tel Aviv giving speeches, receiving good wishes from the crowds, riding his famous mare. We meet Menachem Usishkin and Israel Rokakh, the second mayor of Tel Aviv who in order to call his municipality members to order used a bell which was always on his table like a school head master.

One of Gross'es main discoveries was the archives of LEVI-YASHAR which were kept Levi's son GONEN YASHAR. It included 4 hours of footage of life in Eretz Yisrael in the 30s and 40s. It shows the ordinary people and not the well known public figures, the "MAKHERS" of the Yeshuv. Filming on the beach is less important but gives a real feeling of life. For example older Tel-Avivians are seen playing volleyball or leap frog, trying their strength in pulling long ropes and watching a Gypsy from Jaffa who performs a bear dance on the sands.

Yaakov Gross says: "From the 50 clips which Yashar has incorporated in the film, 7 are discoveries which have never been seen by anyone before. They were "buried" in the National American Archive in Virginia.

Amongst this totally new material is a ceremony organized in Gymnasia Herzelia in 1944 in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Further incredible footage documents the visit of Lord Balfour (1925) and Lord Allenby (1933). There is also the last visit of Baron Edmond de Rothschild in 1925. Some of the footage was found in the Museum of Albert Kahn near Paris. Gross considers the most important discovery is Chain Nahman Bialik's speech. We all know Bialik's poetry but have never previously heard his voice and is for Gross to the highlight of his discoveries. This footage was hidden in the cellars of Bialik's House and was found last year after 80 years of oblivion.

The actual film was created by Yaakov Gross in collaboration with the cinemateque in Jerusalem and the Spielberg Archives.

On bringing the film to the Spiro Ark in London Yaakov Gross says: "I have worked with the Spiro Ark previously when they organized a magnificent symposium around my film on the Mandate period. It was a touching and meaningful event at BAFTA which was packed with people representing the British Police in Palestine and their families and their descendants. I was so impressed with the way the Spiro Ark organized it that I am planning to continue working with them on similar projects in the future. They will also help me, hopefully to spread the showing of my films."

Yaakov Gross has produced and directed 30 documentaries based on archival films - including documentaries made in cooperation with the Israeli Film Archives and the Spielberg Archives of the Hebrew University where Yaakov was the Director in the 70s.

He is the winner of the Israeli President's award for his film "A President and a Believer" and for his major contribution to Jewish and Israeli films. He was also awarded the Life Time Achievement in 2008 for presenting historical audio visual films on the history of Israel.

The Spiro Ark is delighted to continue their cultural association with Kinloss Learning Centre after having had such a sounding success previously.

The film will be screened on Tuesday 15th June 2010, at 8:00pm (doors open at 7:30pm)
At Finchley Synagogue, Kinloss Gardens, London N3 3DU
PRICE: £10, to book please phone Spiro Ark on 020 7723 9991