• Empty Rooms - a Film based on the Dolphinarium Massacre

The Book on Dolphinarium is being made into a Film
The response of the Michael Cherney Foundation to the tragic events of June 1, 2001 (when an Arab suicide bomber slaughtered 21 people outside the Dolphinarium Disco in Tel Aviv) was prompt and generous. Within days, representatives were visiting the parents of the victims in order to help them both with direct cash donations and overall psychological support. This assistance did not dwindle as time went by. Soon, two Israeli journalists, Dmitry Radyshevsky (the Executive director of the Foundation) and Polina Lempert, began interviewing all the survivors and the victims' parents. Their oral testimony served as basis for the book with the same title Dolphinarium: Terror Targets the Young, published by the Foundation in three languages: Russian, English, and Hebrew. The Hebrew edition was officially presented to public on May 30, 2002, on the first anniversary of the tragedy.		In the course of preparing the English-language version of the book, David Gurevich, the U.S. representative of the Cherney Foundation, conceived the idea of a film based on this tragic event. He contacted Willy Lindwer, a well-known Dutch filmmaker and an Emmy winner for his film on the last months of Anne Frank (see Mr. Lindwer's bio enclosed). Mr. Lindwer's response was immediate and overwhelming. "It will be an honor," he said. The Michael Cherney Foundation backed the project enthusiastically, providing full financing, with Mr. Gurevich appointed Producer. The bulk of the film consists of the interviews with survivors and the victims' parents, all shot around the Tel Aviv area, including the location outside the Dolphinarium proper. It also makes extensive use of the footage of the night of the disaster and the home videos left behind the victims.