Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Architecture (UC Berkeley)
Amos Gitai is a world-renowned Israeli filmmaker and artist celebrated for his sprawling body of work that explores geopolitical reality, personal memory, and the history of the Middle East. Originally trained in the field, Gitai holds a degree in Architecture from the Technion in Haifa and a PhD in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. His trajectory shifted toward cinema following a near-death experience during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, leading him to create over 90 works including documentaries like House (1980) and acclaimed features such as Kippur (2000) and Free Zone (2005). His practice is deeply informed by his architectural background—often treating film as a method of “building” space and memory—and has earned him prestigious honors including the Leopard of Honor at the Locarno Film Festival and the Legion of Honor in France. In 2018, he was elected to the Chair of Artistic Creation at the Collège de France, further solidifying his legacy as an intellectual and visual storyteller.
