93-year-old Shimon Peres was one of the last great actors on the international political stage. He was also an amazing storyteller who knew how to captivate his audience with his words.  We have spent two weeks with Peres in Tel Aviv, where he told them his life story. The story of the little Jewish boy who emigrated to Palestine in 1934 is a magnificent tale in and of itself. But then came his meetings with Ben Gurion, Sadat, Kennedy, Bill Clinton…  In this intimate face-to-face talk, Shimon Peres tells his story. His tale is also an epic of Israeli history, from the country’s founding to the historic peace talks. We take an extraordinary trip through history, thanks to never-before-seen archive footage, Shimon Peres’ private photos, and manuscripts that illustrate his story.

The film is in two chronologically-ordered parts

In the first part, Peres looks back at his early years as a Jewish child in Bielorussia. He was 11 years old when he emigrated to Palestine in 1934. He recounts his discovery of what he calls “a new planet”. Peres soon became interested in politics and decided to defend the ideas of Ben Gurion who, after the creation of Israel, entrusted him with the delicate mission of arming the young state while the country was subjected to a international embargo. Peres turned to France and negotiated with the Fourth Republic.

The second film begins in the 1960s. Shimon Peres is no longer a man in the shadows, but an elected representative in the Israeli parliament. He progressed through almost every ministry: immigration, information, religious affairs, finance, defence, foreign affairs, before becoming Prime Minister. He talks of his meetings with some of the 20th century’s most emblematic figures: Kennedy, Sadat, Mitterrand, Rabin, and not forgetting Arafat…

In this film, Peres recounts the history of Israel, but also evokes his own personal combats: his electoral defeats, his vision of the status of Jerusalem. He explains his participation in Sharon’s government and the construction of the wall. He offers a personal, ad therefore subjective vision of the history of the state of Israel, but with the perspective of a great politician in his twilight years