We are a couple of documentary filmmakers. We live in Paris and work together since 2003.

Anke Zeugner, from Berlin, born in the 1970s, grew up in East Germany before the wall came down, studied biochemistry in Berlin and Paris.

Adrian Ruchwald, from Tel-Aviv, born in Bucarest, spent the first 8 years of his life in Communist Romania before he moved to Israel, obtained a law degree in Tel-Aviv, followed by film and media studies in Paris.

Habait Haisraeli was our attempt to modernize a cultural centre that belongs to the Israeli Consulate, and to make it a happier place for meetings and Israeli culture, unique in Paris. For the first time ever, Habait Haisraeli got a defined concept, with a modern up-to-date look, attracting a new public of young Israelis and their friends. Inspired by the contemporary art scene of Israel, we organised video projections that were accompanied by exhibits of Israeli comics, electronic music and a bar serving Israeli beer and bamba (see slide show here). Adrian built a collection of hebrew novels, unique in Paris. You can see here the reproduction of the web site that Anke made at the time (French and Hebrew versions), it is no longer on the web. We used almost no budget (as our aim was to help Israel in that period of crisis) and won the support of a few volunteers and donors. In 2005, the number of visitors started to exceed the capacity of the centre's rooms - when Adrian was obliged to quit his art director chair in the Israeli Embassy... Read good-bye letters...

Adrian is from his mother's side connected to East-European Jewish dynasties of admorim that founded the hasidic movement: the dynasty of Ruzhin (the descendants of Dov Ber of Mezrich, with the family name Friedman), and the dynasty of Chernobyl (the descendants of Nahum of Chernobyl, with the family name Twersky) which used to be one of the largest and most viable hasidic dynasties. Most of these admorim perished in the Holocaust.
You can see here Adrian's family tree and charming old photos.

The Romanian theatre director David Esrig is Adrian's uncle.