Gal Hershkovitz

My name is Gal Hershkovitz, I am 29 years old. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television from Tel Aviv University. I grew up in Yavne, a small town at the center of Israel. I currently live in Tel Aviv and work as a Video Editor.

I am fascinated with cultures and languages, but Germany always fascinated me the most. I grew up reading German fairytales and listening to classical music by the greatest German composers, such as Beethoven and Mozart. It was an integral part of my family. When I was young, I heard my grandparents speak German between each other. My grandfather, who was a Holocaust survivor, came from then Czechoslovakia and spoke different languages, but the only one that my grandmother knew as well was Deutsch. As I grew up I discovered German cinema, I was fascinated with films such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis and many more, as well as plays, by Bertolt Brecht for example.

I also visited the country many times. I remember beautiful trips I had with my family. We visited Schwarzwald, Bavaria, drove through the Romantic Road and saw beautiful Medieval villages. I traveled to the country on my own as well, to visit friends and family in Berlin and Frankfurt. While studying in the university I took a German course and immediately fell in love. I was very excited to hear about the scholarship in class and the opportunities it holds for me. Unfortunately, Covid-19 changed everyone's plans and I didn't know if or when I would get to go to Germany. After more than a year of uncertainty I finally arrived in Berlin. At first it felt like another trip; I was meeting with a friend who had been living there for 6 years and two other friends who came from Israel with me. Once I was alone on a bus, driving through Unter den Linden, I realized that I was going to experience living and studying in Berlin and I was beyond excited .

After taking the test I was placed at a C1 level, but felt like I was a bit too rusty after a year that I had not been practicing the language enough, so I moved to B2 and I feel like that was a good choice. It was a bit shocking at the beginning to hear only German and having to speak only German in class or school in general, but after a week it became much easier. I enjoyed classes and felt I was progressing a lot during these two months. Being able to speak German with locals brought me such joy. I met friends in class from different countries, such as Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Tunisia, South Korea and the US, and found that we have so much in common; I finally have friends who are German fans like me!

Privat

Ms. Hershkovitz was able to discover many facets of Berlin

I am not going to lie, there is always some fear of being the "Israeli in the room" in a situation where you meet people from around the world. The fear of being judged or having to defend the country. Interestingly enough, this feeling is quite similar to being an Israeli who wants to speak German; people judge you and make assumptions about you. While being in Berlin I realized I did not have this fear at all, I felt like I could just be myself. People asked me questions out of curiosity, but hardly did I feel anyone judging.

I see myself returning to Germany. As an artist I find Berlin to be one of the most wonderful cities in the world. Even though I studied German during my stay, I felt the internationality of Berlin and I think that is why it is so ideal for art because art is also international. I also got to travel around the country and got to know other wonderful places in Germany. During my stay I explored professional options for me in Germany and discovered it has a lot to offer, as the Israeli Film and Television industry works closely with Germany, with Arte for example. In the aspect of studying and expanding my skills and connections I found the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg to be one of the best in Europe.

I spent some time with my sister in law's family, who lives in Frankfurt am Main and in Hannover. They made me feel right at home and told me that they are my family there in case I decided to stay. My sister in law's cousin and her wife had a baby right before Covid and I was the first of my family who got to meet her. She had recently started to talk, in German of course, and I was so delighted to be able to talk with her, read books to her and even learn words that were new to me along the way.

Finally, I would like to thank DAAD, Stefanie Lohmann and Dr. Gustav Winkler for the experience. It was a pleasure to meet in person as well. Dr. Winkler was so kind to share his story, ask me about my dreams and aspirations and of course to help some of them come true. It is, also in the context of Israeli-German relations, very special to me that by the support of the DAAD-Stiftung's "Dr. Gustav Winkler Scholarship" I had the chance to experience living and studying in Germany, get to know its people and with the help of the wonderful teachers at did deutsch-institut Berlin I was able to converse with them in German. I had the best time and would definitely like to come back soon.