Ursulimum

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Ursulimum (aka Jerusalem) is a single channel video exhibited in a loop.
Ursulimum is the first reference to Jerusalem in ancient egyptian records dating back to 1330 bce.

This video is an exploration of a buried maze some 200 meters deep under the old city of Jerusalem that doesn’t exist. 
A boy, a seraph, a machine-probe, explores new archeological excavations under The Temple Mount in the old city. 
Supposedly an unknown past is recovered, a hole in time. A third temple which is known to never have been built has been possibly found, erected in secrecy underground but reflecting the complex esthetic of a particle accelerator. A future discovered through history. 
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew (and in Judaism) as Har haBáyith and in Arabic (and in Islam) as the Haram Ash-Sharif (Arabic: al-haram al-quds ash-sharīf, Noble Sanctuary), is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years. At least four religions are known to have used the Temple Mount: Judaism, Christianity, Roman paganism, and Islam.
During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed, besieged, attacked, captured and recaptured recurrently. When conquered, new built streets were resurrected on top of the existing without destroying the former. Large portions and remnants of the past still remain buried and excavations are continuously carried out. These excavations are carried out slowly and cautiously in a site which is politically explosive. What remains buried is still a mystery.
Echoing science fiction genres, this video’s starting point is history. 
Through a breach under the wailing wall, a seven year old boy/seraph/machine-probe sets out to explore the deep magnetic force fields which forms the holiest of sites, facing the unknown. He is blindfolded under his protective helmet. It is a spiritual exploration and a psychological journey. When he opens his helmet for the first time we see that he was blindfolded all along and the video ends, and re-loops. This is suggestion not only that his expedition is without a beginning nor end in a loop suspended in time, but that answers are never to be found and we are doomed to loop in a continuous dark search of light.
 The video footage was filmed on location at the old city of Jerusalem and underwent a heavy process of post production for a year and a half, and not one frame in the final work reflects an existing real place, as the footage was used as a base for alteration. The soundtrack makes use from layers of field recordings of Churches and Mosques on location combined with cinematic epic sound effects.

Media: HD video file
Length: 17:37 minutes
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Cinematography, editing, sound design, post production: Ran Slavin
Cast: Yonathan Gilad
Also with sounds by Sinu Spiral/ERH, Than Van Nispen, Herbert Boland, Kim Burgess,
Fectoper, Dyenstikker, Gy2hor, Cormi, Suonho, R.Humphries, Rodcencko, Poised to Glitch.
Sound Mastering Miguel Carvalhais
Supported by The New Fund for Cinema and Television