Everyone deep down in their hearts carries something they are reluctant to face yet dominates their unconscious. For filmmaker, Chantal Akerman, this is Israel. Her Jewish identity has been expressed in various ways throughout her body of work, but, never as fully as in this film. She stays in Tel Aviv for a while to teach at a university. The film begins with an image that comes to her out of the blue. Apart from the window that leads to the terrace, all windows are closed and all the blinds, and through the bamboo shades, Ackerman, like a woman imprisoned in her own space, discreetly and carefully observes Israel. The almost minimalist use of repetitive images and omissions, the point-of-view from a set camera, and narration seem to place another layer of her unconscious and anxiety towards her own identity over her long-term interest in the exploration of space. Invited to stay with the filmmaker at her apartment in Tel Aviv, the audience will discover their own Israel and not the filmmaker’s Israel. (Lim Sung-min)