Amos Gitai's was born in Haifa to Munio Weinraub, an architect formed at the pre-war German Bauhaus art school, and to Efratia Margalit, an intellectual, storyteller and a teacher. Today Gitai divides his time today between Paris and Haifa. In 1973, Gitai had to interrupt his architecture studies as he was called up to reserve service as part of a helicopter rescue crew. While serving, he shot 8mm footage of the fighting, claiming this served as his entry into the world of film making. His work was presented in several major retrospectives in Pompidou Center Paris, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York, Lincoln Center New York, and the British Film Institute London. To date Amos Gitai has created over 90 works of art throughout 38 years. Between 1999 and 2017 ten of his films were entered in the Cannes Film Festival for the Palme d'Or as well as The Venice International Film Festival for the Golden Lion award.