Dani Dothan
Dani Dothan
Dani Dothan is a writer, film creator, and musician. He is the lead singer of haClique, an Israeli rock and post-punk band created in 1979 by Dothan and Eli Abramov. The band integrated post-punk, rock, and new wave, with songs mostly about social criticisms, death, mockery of Israeli politics and existence, grief culture, and local collectivism. The band received great success due to its unique musical style and songs, until it fell apart in 1985. The band published three successful and highly praised studio albums. Together with Eli Abramov, Dothan wrote all of the band's songs on the albums "Mom, I Don't Want to quit", " (ranked eighth in the list of the 50 best all-time first Israeli albums, in the 7 Nights issue of Yediot Ahronot), "Crowded World," and "I Am Not on the Playlist."
In 2013, the documentary "The Last Click" was published, directed, and produced by Dani Dothan and his life-partner Dalia Mevorach. The movie tells the story of the band and showcases its members over the course of a few years. The movie premiered at the International Film Festival in Haifa.
In 1984, Dothan started the Tatrama Gallery and the gallery cafe Sheink-in with his brother, Uri Dothan, turning Sheinkin St., the abandoned shoemaker's street of the eighties, into something reminiscent of New York's Soho during that time. The Dothan brothers also published the Tatrama magazine, dedicated to original art, poems, and stories. The works published in the paper were specifically made for this purpose. The magazines where numbered and signed by the Dani and Uri as works of art. The Dothan brothers are considered the creators of the Sheinkin culture, loved by many young people in the eighties but hated by the establishment. The word "Sheinkinite" soon became a curse often used in the Knesset (The Israeli house of parliament) to describe rebels, opposed to Israeli collectivism, devoting their lives to culture and art.
During the nineties, Dothan published three books: "An Upside-down Triangle Between Here and the Moon" (1993) with Keter publication, which resulted from four years of studying the lives of artists who came to Jerusalem in the beginning of the 20th century; "The Black University" (1995) with Keter publication; and "Anarchy Baby" (1999) with Hasifriya Hahadasha publication.
In 2000, Dothan and his partner, Dalia Mevorach, founded the "Elil Tikshoret" production company. Since then, they have been writing, directing, and producing documentaries about Israeli identity, art, and music. Their films have been screened in Israeli and international festivals and have received prizes and rave reviews.
Selected Filmography
2005: The Blue Lamb – documentary – first prize cinematography winner, Itzik Portal, in the Wolgin competition at the Jerusalem Film Festival. The artistic and internal worlds of Menashe Kadishman. Who is he? An obsessive creator of sheep paintings or an art genius, a millionaire, or a homeless person? A lonely man or highly sociable? Or perhaps an impossible mixture of all these? 70 minutes. Alma Films, Israel Cinema Project – The Rabinovich Foundation, Channel 8. Noga communications.
2006: The Ashkenazim – documentary – A group of young Tel Avivians decide to reconnect with their Ashkenazi roots and bring the Shtetl to the Middle East. The film delves into the world of people who are considered the masters of the land but experience a sense of loneliness, alienation, and a borrowed time in Israeli space. It won the Warsaw Phoenix Award. 58 minutes. Elil Tikshoret, The New Fund for Cinema and TV, the Second Authority for Television and Radio.
2007: The Mystery of Aris San – the life story of Aris San, the Greek singer who became a superstar Israel during the sixties and was entangled in stories of love, espionage, drugs, and mafia. Short listed, best film, in the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. Winner – first prize, editing, Ron Goldman in the Wolgin competition at the Jerusalem Film Festival. 75 minutes. Elil tikshoret, Keshet-channel 2, The New Fund for Cinema and TV.
2009: Queen of Jerusalem – Dani Dothan embarks on a bittersweet "excavation" in the home of his mother, world famous archaeologist Prof. Trude Dothan. 75 minutes. Elil Tikshoret, Channel 8 Noga Communications. The Dorot Foundation.
2010: Pnina Feiler, a Communist Nurse – This documentary focuses on 85-year-old Pnina Feiler, who dedicates herself to bringing about a revolution. She takes care of patients in the Palestinian Authority, fights against the government in Israel, and faces the consequences of her ideology. The film premiered at Docaviv international film festival 2010. 71 minutes. Elil Tikshoret, Makor Foundation for Israeli Films. The Second Authority for Television and Radio.
2013: The Last Click – The Click (Haclique) was a successful punk/new wave band known for singing anti-social and political messages in Hebrew. After releasing two albums that became milestones in the Israeli counterculture, the band disbanded. Thirty years later, at the age of 57, the band members reunite for one last album and tour before it's too later. 93 minutes. Elil Tikshoret, HSCC, Channel 8 Hot. The New Fund for Cinema and TV.
2015: Matti Caspi – Confession – This documentary tells the life story of Matti Caspi, from his birth in Kibbutz Hanita, his struggle with polio, his discovery as a musical genius, and his meteoric rise as a creator. It also explores his encounters with detectives, involvement in bigamy, financial breakdowns, finding solace as a Jehovah's Witness, and his return to Israel and journey of rehabilitation.
Winner of the Commendation Award at the Docaviv Festival 2015. It also Achieved Israeli Film Academy award nomination for best documentary film. 85 minutes. Comeback Films, Makor Foundation for Israeli films. Channel 1.
2017: The Sad and Foretold End of Zohar Argov – This documentary portrays the life story of Zohar Argov, from his violent childhood in Shikun Hamizrah neighborhood to his meteoric rise in the Israeli music world. It delves into his struggles with money, drugs, and his significant influence on shaping the Mizrahi identity in Israel. The film won the first prize for original music in the competition of the Israeli Academy of film and Television and was shortlisted in three categories. 180 minutes.3-part series. Elil tikshoret, HSCC, Channel 8 Hot, Israel cinema project-The Rabinovich Foundation
2020: Ofra – This three-part documentary narrates the life story of diva/singer Ofra Haza, from her birth in Hatikva neighborhood as the youngest daughter in a large poor family to her untimely death at the age of 42 due to HIV complications. The series was short listed in six categories at the Israeli Academy of film and Television competition. 180 minutes. 3-part series. Elil tikshoret, HSCC, Channel 8 Hot.
"From the Media – "Haclique" (The Click)
Dani Dothan, the lead singer of Haclique, a groundbreaking band in Israeli music, was a guest in our studio with Raz Shechnik. Together, they delved into the moments when the inner fire did not extinguish against all odds.
In 1980, Dani Dothan and Eli Abramov decided to form Haclique along with Oved Efrat, Jean Jacques Goldberg, and Uzi Binder, who left after a short time. Haclique was an Israeli rock and post-punk band that became one of the most influential forces in Israel and achieved great success. This was due to their unique musical style, which blended post-punk, rock, and new wave, their lyrics differed in the musical landscape, mostly dealing with drugs, social critique, and more. Dothan, who was the lead vocalist of the band throughout its existence, was a guest in Raz Shechnik's studio on 103 fm, where he revisited the significant moments from the band's formation, songwriting, breakdowns, reunification, and ultimate dissolution.
Burn the old soundtrack. Dani Dothan.
Photo: Ilya Melnikov
By Uri Zer Aviv, March 4, 2015
You can say many things about him: that he is naive, that he tends to contradict himself and that he is also not exactly a great singer. But as far as Israeli punk is concerned, Dani Dothan is the real deal. There is no doubt that his mouth and heart are equal, that he stands behind every word he screams into the microphone, and that, as in the 80s, even today he believes that his band can bring about change.
"We are eagerly waiting to see our song, 'I am not on the playlist', become the soundtrack of the country," he says with sparkling eyes in an interview with him on the balcony of his Tel Aviv apartment. The single 'I'm Not in the Playlist,' released earlier this week accompanied by a video directed by the artist Shasha Dothan, Dani's daughter, is taken from a new album of the same name, set to be released in the near future (by Kama Records), over 32 years after the release of the previous album."
Click
Dani dothan a member of Haclique (the Click band), bid farewell to his friend Eli Abramov, who passed away at the age of 61.