Over the decades, we’ve seen quite a few documentaries about the life of Leonard Cohen. Most recently, he was the subject of the doc, “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song.” To say that his life and career are fascinating and iconic is an understatement. And now, a production company would like to bring a specific period of Leonard Cohen’s life to TV screens in a new drama.
According to Variety, Keshet International and Sixty-Six Media are teaming up to produce a new TV drama, “Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai.” The series, which is based on the book of the same name by author Matti Friedman, tells the story of Leonard Cohen’s legendary performance on the front lines of the Yom Kippur war in 1973.
Here’s the synopsis:
“In October 1973 the poet and singer Leonard Cohen – 39 years old, famous, unhappy, and at a creative dead end – traveled to the Sinai desert and inserted himself into the chaos and blood of the Yom Kippur War. Moving around the front with a guitar and a pick-up team of local musicians, Cohen dived headlong into a global crisis and met hundreds of fighting men and women at the worst moment of their lives. Cohen’s audience knew his songs might be the last thing they heard, and those who survived never forgot the experience. The war tour was an electric cultural moment, one that still echoes today, – but a moment that only few knew about, until now.”
‘Who by Fire’ is set to be adapted by Yehonatan Indursky, an Israeli filmmaker best known for his work on the series, “Shtisel.” The production is hoping to begin filming sometime in 2024.
“As a life-long Leonard Cohen fan, I loved Matti Friedman’s brilliant book from the moment I read it,” said executive producer, Jill Offman. “With Yehonatan at the helm and with my partners at Keshet, I am very much looking to bring this extraordinary story to the screen. I set up Sixty-Six Media looking for undiscovered international stories with universal resonance and it’s an honor to have this as our first project.”
Details about the cast and directors involved are not yet known. With filming hoping to begin in 2024, this is likely a series that won’t arrive on screens until late 2024/early 2025. In the meantime, if you want to see more about this performance and Cohen’s life at the time, you can check out the documentary, “Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire,” which chronicles his life during the tour which brought him to Israel.
