Amos Guttman

Amos Guttman was an Israeli film director who directed the first Israeli film with an LGBT theme.

1954 to 1993The first Israeli LGBT-themed filmThe films Drifting and Bar 51A film about AIDS

Born: 10 May 1954, Sita Buzăului
Died: 16 February 1993, Tel Aviv
Occupation: film director, screenwriter, director
Education: Beit Zvi

Amos Guttman was born in 1954 in Sita Buzăului

Amos Guttman was born on 10 May 1954 in Sita Buzăului, in the Covasna district of Transylvania, Romania. His birth name was Tiberius. He moved to Israel with his family at the age of 7.

He studied film at the Beit Zvi school. He then directed several short films, among them A Safe Place and Drifting.

In 1983 he made his first feature film, Drifting. It was followed by Bar 51 in 1985 and Himmo, King of Jerusalem in 1987, a war story based on a story by Yoram Kaniuk. His last feature film, released in 1992, dealt with AIDS.

Guttman was openly gay, and most of his films dealt with the lives of gay people. He belonged to a group of Israeli directors who called for quality films over commercial cinema. Actors such as Jonathan Sagall, Alon Abutbul and Rivka Michaeli appeared in his films.

He died of AIDS in Tel Aviv on 16 February 1993 and was buried at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery. In 2015 he was included in a list of 40 influential figures in the history of the LGBT community. A documentary about his life and work, Taboo, came out in 2024.