HAHARUG HA-17

Seventeen people were killed, when a suicide-bomber attacked a bus just outside Tel Aviv, Israel. One person, mangled beyond recognition, remained unidentified. He is referred to as ‘Number 17’.

Slipping into the role of a detective, filmmaker David Ofek attempts to trace the identity of this man, whom nobody seems to miss. Officials assume him to have been an illegal worker, without any relatives. We see Ofek interviewing policemen, survivors and witnesses, as he gathers more and more information. He posts notices at bus stops along the route. His only clue is that the man was carrying a tent. Ofek also identifies the interviewees th rough ‘identity cards’ that provide biographical information. As a result, we get to know the forensic expert and the piano teacher from Minsk , both of whom were also riding the bus, and we hear that the undertaker got injured in the Yom Kippur War. Finally, Ofek enlists a sketch artist from a newspaper, even going on national television to achieve his goal: giving Number 17 a face.

"... No. 17 gives the audience an inkling of what it's like to live in a society where violence is so pervasive that it becomes a part of th e fabric of everyone's lives." Josh Ralske, New York Times