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The Schmooze

Jerusalem in 2111: Aliens and UFOs?

Sharing Jerusalem hasn’t been easy for humans, but maybe aliens can help.

That’s the prize-winning idea behind “Secular Quarter #3,” a sci-fi film that claimed $10,000 recently from the Association of Planning and Conservation, an Israeli organization concerned with Jerusalem architecture. The group selected “Secular Quarter #3” (shown below) as the winner of its “Jerusalem 2111” contest, in which filmmakers offered their visions of what Jerusalem will look like in 100 years’ time.

Competing against almost 100 submissions from 11 countries, Israeli filmmakers David Gidali and Itay Gross shared the prize for the two-minute “Secular Quarter #3,” which shows a Jerusalem divided by massive metal domes that cover landmarks including the Knesset, Western Wall and Dome of the Rock. Alien spaceshifts remove the metal domes, leaving Jerusalem’s residents to face each other.

Judged by a panel that included “Avatar” producer Jon Landau, the competition featured other familiar sci-fi tropes, including scenarios in which zombies and a nuclear blast wreaked havoc on Jerusalem. Not all the films offered such a dark outlook, however. “Some of the entrants for the competition were positively upbeat, much to our surprise,” an organizer told AOL News.

AOL reported that the Jerusalem Development Authority, a joint municipal/state governmental body, may develop Gidali’s vision as a feature-length film.

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