Amos Guttman (Hebrew: עמוס גוטמן‎) (May 10, 1954 – February 16, 1993) was an Israeli film director.

Biographie

Guttman was born in Transylvania, Romania, and emigrated to Israel at the age of 7. He studied film at Beit Zvi and between 1977 and 1982 he directed three short films: "A Safe Place", "Returning Premiers", and "Drifting".

In 1983 he directed his feature debut, Drifting (no relation to the short film of the same name). He then directed three films: Bar 51 (1985), Himmo Melech Yerushalaim (1987), and Amazing Grace (1992).

Guttman was homosexual, and most of his films (except Himmo Melech Yerushalaim, a film about the Israeli War of Independence, based on a story by Yoram Kaniuk) were about homosexual experience and AIDS. Many Israeli players made their breakthrough performances in Guttman's films, including Jonathan Sagall, Alon Abutbul, Sharon Alexander, Aki Avni, and Rivka Michaeli.

Guttman was part of a group of young Israeli directors who called for quality films at the expense of commercial cinema. During the short period he was an active director, Guttman managed to create a rich and stylish cinematic language, providing a unique sound and intriguing Israeli cinema. His films are notable due to his attention to the visual and graphic aspect of the movie (such as makeup and camera movements) but also due to his unique content.

Amos Guttman died in Tel Aviv in 1993 of AIDS. AIDS was the subject of his last film, Amazing Grace. He was buried in the Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv.