A colleague recently forwarded a video to me with excerpts from a November 2009 documentary titled "I Was There in Color." The documentary is composed of footage captured by Fred Monosson, a Bostonian who traveled to Israel in 1947 with a then high-tech camera able to film in color. He later returned to the United States and stored the reels of 16mm film in his attic, where they stayed until his son accidentally discovered them years after his death. He was about to throw them away but mentioned the color footage to an Israeli director who realized how unique the home movies were: until they were discovered, images of Israel from this era only existed in black and white. Monosson's son saved the film and it was eventually made into "I Was There in Color." According to the Facebook page for the documentary, "the material revealed a passionate love story between Monosson and the new Jewish State."
You can view the video that was sent to me by clicking here. It shows a remarkable glimpse into Israel's past - from people dancing in circle formation and children on swings, to soldiers and images of Jerusalem in ruins. Additional footage can be found on YouTube here.
The story of how these films were brought to light has been fabricated. Although providing a dramatic backdrop to the release of these remarkable images, the films had actually been donated to Technion University years ago.
The official website offers the movie for download and on DVD, http://buildyourfilmsite.com/monosson/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=7
You write that the movie is available for download as well as in a DVD form. I searched through the website, and could not find this option. Could you post the link? Thanks!